I Trust You to Kill Me
by Samurai Smee
Summary: Itachi x Sasuke. Itachi does not die after his battle with Sasuke, as the younger Uchiha has taken to saving him in order to obtain answers at last. However, how will both be able to handle each others' truths once they are revealed? Yaoi/dark themes
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing. The title of this story is a Rocco DeLuca song…which is total love, by the way.

I Trust You to Kill Me

"_My father once told me that I've always been the strong one in the family. And that it's people like him and me that have to make the tough decisions in life, because it's people like my mom and sister, who can't."_ – Samurai Smee

X

Chapter One 

_**Third Person POV**_

"Argh! What do I do now! What the hell am I supposed to do now?!" Sasuke shouted for the umpteenth time to himself as he continued to furiously pace around the candle-lit but still dreary room of his lair – his nerves in a straining frenzy as he grit his teeth and squeezed his fingers tighter against palms.

Forcing his hurrying feet to come to a stop, Sasuke suddenly halted and hollered, "Why the hell did I save him; I should have just let him burn!"

With that, Sasuke raised one of his fists and brought it down hard on the nearest table, easily shattering the old but stable wooden fixture into an impressive display of splinters and pieces – the many glass jars filled with different colored liquids and things that had been sitting atop the table clamored noisily to the cold ground below as well.

However, for Sasuke, seeing such destruction of something that once stood whole and complete, made him unclench his hands and take a deep, calming breath – his more rational side coming back to him and reminding him of exactly why he was in his current situation.

There was no need for second guesses or sudden wonderments – Sasuke Uchiha had imagined this opportunity for years, and now was his opportunity.

The gradually simmering missing ninja remained quiet for a moment to better collect himself – he could not make any mistakes or mess this up in any way; this was too important.

Tipping his midnight head back a little he could stretch his neck and cast his empty, equally black stare to the intricately designed ceiling, Sasuke answered his previously question solemnly.

"I have to talk to him."

X

_**Itachi's POV**_

I awoke with the kind of start that immediately made my pulse quicken and chest tighten in a dull pain, just like what one would feel when first going into battle. The sound that jolted me from my dreamless slumber was the excruciating screeching of an old, rusted metal door handle being twisted against the jamb and then pried open.

In an instant, staggering amounts of sensory information flooded my systems – the very first of them all, though, was how I could not see.

I blinked, and blinked again; already tasting the old residuals of blood and battle in my mouth; but still able to see nothing.

Everything was just a solid, terrifying black, but for some reason, I did not panic…maybe, I could not panic.

My back was freezing and my shoulders felt overly strained, and I knew right away that I was shackled to some kind of stone wall – my nostrils already taking in the damp, putrid aroma of my ill-vented surroundings.

I remained physically and emotionally indifferent to it all; not really caring one way or another at thing point of where I was or what was going on – a certain kind of hulking depression already pressing down on me and rendering me in a state of callous, unmovable melancholy.

That stench in this room; a horrifying mixture of death of many and the despair of even more; served to frighten and soothe me at the same time – both sensations being possible because it was so familiar.

My bare feet were numb on the icy stone floor below, and I forced my senses to work their way upwards so I may know more about my situation.

I was rid of my short-sleeved black top and fishnet undershirt; explaining why I could feel every painful groove of the textured wall firmly at my back; leaving me only in my sash and black pants which hung loosely down my legs, leading me to believe that I was also stripped of my white calve wrappings.

My filthy, unkempt hair hung around my down-turned face and shoulders, as I took a few deep breathes through my nose and closed my sightless eyes – memories too barbaric for any normal human to have thoroughly scouring me with all their jagged points in poise as I finally understood where I was and why.

I listened intently to the sounds of the measured but purposeful footsteps as they drew nearer and nearer to me – thoughts already spinning out of control inside my conscious until I forced them to be silent so I may welcome my impending death with some kind of dignity.

I knew it was Sasuke approaching; I knew we had to be in Orochimaru's old lair which Sasuke must have obtained after killing him; and I could only imagine the look of pure, burning hatred that Sasuke must have had at me at this moment.

I took in another heavy breath of air as I kept my head down and shame visible.

I knew…it was all over for me.

_BAM!_

A firm, experienced hit was administered to my cheek, making my head violently turn to the side and I could already feel another split in my bottom lip start to bleed.

Sasuke's breathing was haggard, so I remained quiet, just waiting for the next blow to come that I deserved.

"Why…why did you…"Sasuke growled out at me; red-hot malice present in his strained voice; prompting me to turn my head back in his direction and slowly open my colorless eyes.

I knew in an instant what he was trying to ask; his own anger strangling his words; but I only moved my tongue around inside my mouth to try to bring some moisture to my parched cavern.

_WHAM!_

Another hit, this time to the other side of my face, quickly followed by a kunai being driven deep into my left thigh.

At this, I hissed and grimaced; my hands curling into light fists beside my head as I tried to mentally deal with the sharp, hot pain that was suddenly being inflicted on me.

Maybe finally seeing me respond snapped Sasuke out of his limitless fury, for he then stated more calmly, "Everything. You're going to tell me everything, right from the beginning. I…I need to fucking know why you ruined my life, Itachi!!!"

I frowned at my younger brother's words and loosened my fingers – too many words and phrases already relentlessly clashing within me far too quickly as to what I should say back…but it truly was now or never…

…and I had never felt so defeated and tired in my life.

"It's…complicated, but…" I began, my voice impossibly hoarse as I filled the eerie room with my low, timbered words.

My unsure, pathetic opener was cut off, however, as I winced again in my throat as I felt the kunai get pushed deeper into my leg.

Sasuke's face was so close to mine, though I could not see it, as he said venomously, "Try…just…make me understand."

He was not letting up on the constant pressure he maintained on that well-placed kunai and I felt more of my skin break and blood flow down my leg in response.

"I was acting on orders," I said at last, my sweating brow scrunched up in both pain and utter anguish that I had just said that aloud.

Sasuke noticeably stilled before aggressively snatching back the kunai from my leg as he moved away from me a little bit; my words serving as an obvious shock to the naïve young man.

"What do you mean you were 'acting on orders'?" Sasuke asked from his short distance before me, his words sounding like he was uncertain of if his own voice would work properly or not.

A drop of blood from my lip made a soft 'plap' sound as it hit the hard floor before I said, "I did…what I did because they were orders given to me by the Leaf Village elders. You see, the Uchiha Clan was under suspicion of betraying Konoha by becoming its own territory…something that would have inevitably called for war between the two sides."

Another drop of my blood hit the floor as I paused; my fatigue increasing exponentially from finally telling my own little brother the exact same words I have often dreamt of saying to him over these past years. Now, it was really happening…and I could not even see his face.

Despite that, despite the silence, I continued.

"I was sought out and made a spy for them. I had to report on all of the Uchiha Clan's decisions regarding this shift in power…while still being a part of them and their actions every day. It was…tiring. But one day, when the elders were certain the Uchiha were planning to annex themselves from the rest of the village, I was called in. My orders…were to eliminate every member of the Uchiha Clan…for the sake of the rest of the village."

I felt like I had been talking for days straight and my mouth was so uncomfortably dry, I did not was to say anything ever again – my head dropping out of sheer exhaustion and overworked mental capacities.

Much to my surprise, however, after a moment Sasuke shakily replied, "You're…you're lying!"

I only shook my lowered head, but not for too long as I suddenly felt Sasuke rush toward me. I could not suppress the tiny gasp that I let out upon feeling Sasuke lay his forehead on my collarbone and weep openly against my chest – my every fiber was alight with a keen, renewed energy from such an unexpected act from him.

It suddenly became clear why Sasuke's voice had been unsteady a second ago – Sasuke had been crying while I had been speaking.

My heart felt painfully heavy against my ribcage upon realizing that.

Sasuke's fists hammered aimlessly at the stone wall beside my head as his smaller frame quivered with uncontrollable sobs and countless murmurs of how I must be lying to him. I fought to remain perfectly still as I painstakingly felt his body practically come apart at the seams against my own as he vented.

His warm tears fell onto my chest like a sorrowful symphony and my hands yearned to be free of their restraints so I may comfort my devastated younger brother.

Knowing that he was like this was positively killing me; I just bore the front of it and waited patiently until he calmed down and hopefully ended my tortured life.

Within a moment or so, his blows against the stones had gotten considerably lighter as his sobs had been reduced to a few, sporadic sniffles and hiccups, and even thought it was thoroughly melting my long-forgotten soul to have Sasuke so close to me like this, I said quietly, "I am so sorry, Sasuke."

I meant it.

"Why not me?" Sasuke said with a little more ice than I had expected; his body still lightly pressed up against mine with his head lying flat on my chest; "If you were ordered to kill everyone…then why am I still alive?"

At this, I gulped – my most sensitive subject.

Damn.

Thoughtfully slipping my eyes closed again and lowering my head a bit; just enough to where my chin would touch the top of his soft, spiky hair; I said truthfully, pridelessly, "Not you… anyone but you. I could not kill…my little brother, the only person I ever really cared about. You have to understand that I knew full well what those order truly meant for me that day. I was to be Konoha's scapegoat; someone to take the fall for them…and that I would have to leave the village and be persecuted as a criminal for as long as I lived. So…my death by your hands…is exactly how it needs to be, Sasuke. What better way to…"

"Just shut up! Stop it!!" Sasuke suddenly shouted, pulling himself away from me; the tears that were once raining down on me were now cleanly falling on the floor in between us.

I wanted to say that I was sorry again, but did not dare open my mouth – the tension in the atmosphere having changed dramatically…a change to which I had no idea how to respond.

"I…I just need some time to think," Sasuke said at last, probably more to himself than to me, " I just need some time to fucking think!"

Booming footsteps sounded as Sasuke hurried towards my prison's metal-barred door, swung it open, then banged it shut – abruptly leaving me alone to my draining, depleting thoughts and inner, most personal fears once more.

One thought stood out the most in my mind, though, as it kept repeating over and over in the most merciless of ways – and it was simply that now he knows.

X

_**Third Person POV**_

"I just can't believe something like this," Sasuke said into his hands that he kept over his tear-stained face.

The younger Uchiha had only made it to the third corridor before having to stop walking completely – the weight and immense strength of Itachi's words finally starting to sink in and rattle his every nerve.

Sasuke knew his world, everything he had thought to be true and without a doubt, had just been flipped upside down.

Sasuke honestly felt like throwing up at the moment as his mind continued to turn and maul over this new information; forcing him to read even deeper into what his older brother had just finished saying to him.

Sasuke sank down into a crouch as he moved his hands into his hair, his confused onyx gaze cast directly onto the floor as his helpless mind was still trying to catch up with everything that had just happened...and more importantly, what needed to happen now.

Sasuke swallowed thickly and pitifully whispered to himself, "All this time…all this time, Itachi had…"

Sasuke could not finish his own thought right away, for more hot tears started welling up in his beautiful eyes again and began to obscure his vision and choke his throat.

"…Itachi…you've had to live this way…all because you only did what they fucking told you to do…you had no choice, and I…" Sasuke went on remorsefully, fully intending on actually throwing up in the darkened hallway on account of how terribly knotted his stomach felt, "...and I've been hating you all this time because of it."

Sasuke closed his eyes and released his hair, instead favoring to wrap his arms around his churning stomach as he also reminded himself of how he was even still alive because Itachi confessed how he just could not kill every single member of the Uchiha Clan after all.

"_Not you… anyone but you. I could not kill…my little brother, the only person I ever really cared about."_

One last tear hit the chilly floor in between his feet as Sasuke remembered those words especially – they had made his heart stop when he had first heard them come from his brother's mouth against his hair.

"But, if I am the one to kill you, Itachi," Sasuke spoke as if he was still standing in front of his shackled, depressed brother and speaking to him directly, "then that means that your life is in my hands now, and that it is mine to do with it whatever I want."

Sucking in a bit of air, Sasuke rose to his feet and quickly swiped his long, white sleeve over his face before continuing down the path that he had originally started before – thoughts of exactly how Sasuke wanted Itachi's life to be already becoming crystal clear to the younger Uchiha as he now re-examined this situation for what it could actually become.

"Not anymore…never again," Sasuke said quietly to himself as he walked with a lot more pride down the winding corridors and towards his destination – his words were his vocal response to when his conscious reminded him of his previous, consuming hatred of his older brother, a man that had devoted his life to ensuring the peace at Konoha and the safety of his younger brother.

All that, everything had changed, and Sasuke was now going to make sure that Itachi would know that soon enough as well.

_Author's Note_: Alright, so I started another one. Seriously, this one has been keeping me up at night, so I figured what the hell. lol. Be sure to drop me a line about what I have so far. Thanks a bunch! XD


	2. Chapter 2

"_I can see stars align into the future / all of our deepest fears gone / there is no chance at life / far from the sunlight / all this world will shine on / you and I will shine on"_ – Filo and Peri feat. Eric Lumiere

Chapter Two

_**Itachi's POV**_

It had not taken long after Sasuke had walked away from me, after I had just poured my heart and soul out, for me to begin crying silently in that prison.

It was odd, feeling the warm lines of tears racing down my cheeks and not being able to do anything about it, though I doubt I would have wiped them away if I had been free of my restraints.

I just did not have any more strength left.

I felt finished; finished with everything, though I felt like I had done nothing at all.

I remember wishing that Sasuke would have killed me right after I had got done speaking, since I was now just left alone to my own thoughts and could still hear both his and my words ringing clearly in my swimming head.

Maybe Sasuke really did think I was lying to him? What of it, then?

So be it, should that be the case – maybe then he might go through with killing me after all, just out of spite.

Anything just so I was not left alone to my terrible thoughts anymore.

I am not quite sure how I long I was in this sort of sleepless but still not quite awake daze where I could barely process anything; hours maybe; before I was stirred to a more stable state of consciousness by a subtle clinking that sounded right next to my ear.

I licked the dry roof of my mouth; my spit as thick as glue on my tongue; as my drowsy, sightless eyes blinked and tried to catch up with what was happening.

Obviously, my senses were not working fast enough, because before I was certain I knew what that sound was, I felt both my arms drop to my sides – something I was not prepared for in the least bit.

I fell forward, away from the wall; unable to hold my own weight up at the moment as pints of blood rushed back into limbs that had been going uncomfortably without thus far; but I did not hit the ground as I quickly assessed I would.

Instead, I leaned right into waiting, open arms that easily caught me and held me up – my own arms feeling like dead weight at my sides as my chin rested on top of a shorter but solid shoulder.

Somewhat trembling fingers squeezed briefly at my sensitive back, making me squint my eyes slightly at the pressure as I continued to stare unseeingly behind Sasuke while he held me in his embrace.

What was Sasuke doing? What was going on? Why was he…?

"Itachi…brother," Sasuke began quietly but warmly; my heart twisting a bit at him calling me his brother after so long, "…let's…let's get you cleaned up."

He sounded surprisingly timid; nervous, even; as he released my back and allowed me to stand up straight on my own.

"I don't understand," I replied, thoroughly confused at the situation – Sasuke's voice throwing me off more than anything as I felt him move around to stand a little to my right.

Sasuke hesitated, and I knew that he was trying to think of the right words to say.

"Just come on," he simply answered back, seizing my wrist with his slender fingers in a no-nonsense grip before leading me out of the cell and down a myriad of corridors that I could not help but mentally count.

I had to get my bearings one way or another, and being a ninja, I knew I needed to memorize which turns were made, how many different paths we took, and where memorable things were located.

It was difficult, but not impossible for someone with my training.

Sasuke did not let go of my wrist the entire time we walked, me a little ways behind him as it occurred to me that I really did have to be dependent on someone at a time like this – a time where I was still not used to not having my sight at my regular disposal.

However, I did not dwell on brooding about this fact for much longer as I was both bewildered by these recent developments concerning my brother and myself, as well as extremely cautious about them.

I had no idea where my younger brother was taking me – the only thing I could do was oblige him and do what he said.

I owed him that.

I truthfully had no other choice, but for some reason, that did not bother me as much as I thought it would.

As if sensing my slight unease and constant thinking about the situation, Sasuke smoothly slowed down our walking pace to more like a comfortable stroll, and said, "I've made a decision."

I stayed silent but my fingers of the wrist he was holding onto twitched in automatic response to such a bold, quizzical statement.

"It's about you…and what I want our lives to be like from now on," Sasuke said a little more quietly than his previous, triumphant-sounding sentence; immediately gathering my undivided attention and triggering more than one of my mental alarms.

I needed to know if I was to finally be put to death or not; I could not stand not knowing anymore.

"Sasuke, I still don't…" I tried, but was cut off as Sasuke quickly interjected that 'we were here.'

I hushed up immediately, my nerves starting to tingle in betraying anticipation as to what was actually in store for me.

The orders were simple: wait right here, strip down completely, and then walk about ten paces until I felt the hot spray of the shower that would be coming down from overhead.

Sasuke really had meant it when he had told me that I was going to get 'cleaned up.'

Who knew?

I did exactly what Sasuke instructed me to do without question, figuring that this was probably a better alternative than some gruesome death, any way you look at it.

In no time, I was soaking underneath a glorious shower of remarkably hot water – water that I imagined was cleansing my blackened soul more than anything else.

From what I could gather, the shower room was huge; the perimeter being outlined with a gigantic curtain that draped over the area in a large circle.

I realized after a while that I had been in there a long time, but I still could not will myself to move very fast at the moment, as I remained with one hand pressed flat against the cool tiled wall in front of me and just hung my dripping head down low – my previously hectic mind finally finding some peace as I was able to tranquilly think about absolutely nothing.

Leaning most of my weight on that out-stretched arm as I was, I was able to relieve a little of the tension in my wounded leg as I just continued to let the water work through my hair and muscles, and just not move so I may extend my moment of serene nothingness as long as possible.

My lips were parted and my eyes were kept closed as I felt the calming water just run down my face and pound against my back in the most stress-reducing of ways; my other hand coming up to rake through my long, sopping, black tresses that clung to me here and there amidst the downpour.

"You know…you should probably hurry up," Sasuke suddenly said a little light-heartedly from a good distance behind me, making me snap my eyes open at once as I quickly realized that I had not even sensed his presence there.

I must be slipping.

"Oh…" I replied a little sheepishly, disappointed in myself for letting my guard down so mindlessly like that, "I will."

After making my reply, I had thought that that would be the end of it and that Sasuke would, more or less, leave me alone again.

I could not have been more wrong.

To my utter astonishment, the sounds of Sasuke's footsteps were coming closer to me rather than farther away; the obvious difference making me drop my hand from the wall in front of me and turn my head in his direction from over my shoulder.

"I…never finished telling you about my decision," Sasuke said matter-of-factly as I turned around to fully face him since it was clear that he was going to continue speaking to me this way, even if it meant him getting soaked as well.

However, instead of another word being the next thing I heard, I listened to the soft 'clack' of a lid being re-closed on something, followed by another step taken by Sasuke to be even closer to me.

I could not say anything; the fear that that maybe that would be my next sense to go darkly striking my thoughts for a brief moment as I only waited calmly and blinked the water out of my eyes.

Nothing I could have done would have prepared me for what came next, though.

When I was sure that Sasuke had to be right in front of me, I suddenly felt his hands delve themselves into my hair; strong, skilled fingers massaging some kind of dense, but sweet-smelling liquid into my long locks at once and without any reservation.

No one had ever washed my hair for me before, short of my mother when I just a young child I'm sure, and I was instantly taken with how insatiably…good it felt.

I groaned wearily, appreciatively the moment I felt Sasuke's fingers sifting through my hair, as I automatically dropped my shoulders a bit so he could reach better.

I closed my eyes again; the many, soft bubbles of the product collecting everywhere and running down my back in the process; and I noticed that Sasuke's massaging of my scalp had shifted to more of a light, slow petting through my hair as he brought the soapy tresses back away from my face and then trailed his fingers down until the very ends of my hair.

I had never known such gripping, jarring, yet substantial pleasure before from something so trivial…it was wonderful, and I felt as if in some sort of trance.

Fingers returning back to my roots to begin running down the entire length again, Sasuke said lowly, carefully, "I thought about what you said…about how you wanted to be killed by my hands, but I have another idea."

Incomprehensively gracious hands were slid out of my hair and rinsed under the spray of water before Sasuke gently wiped away some of the soap from my brow that would have ended up in my eyes.

I listened intently while still feeling completely complacent as the steady flow of water began to clear away all of the bubbles that Sasuke's massaging had amassed.

"If your life is truly in my hands, then that means it belongs to me," Sasuke explained, still not moving away from me just yet as I could feel his every, mind-breaking word practically travel through me, "…and so, I've decided…that…"

Hearing Sasuke trail off as he did prompted me to press him to finish his thoughts – my own soul positively weeping at this point to hear what my younger brother was really trying to say to me.

"Tell me, Sasuke," I cooed softly though with just enough urgency in my voice to let him know that his next words genuinely meant the world to me, no matter what.

"I'm going to take care of you," Sasuke finished at last, as he placed the most delicate hand I had ever felt against my cheek and just simply held it lovingly in his palm, "…this time."

Again, I had to gulp down a sudden rush of explainable emotions that were trying to threaten my very resolve before I was able to do a thing.

Though I knew this was Sasuke's wish, I had to smile sadly at him and mindfully place my own hand over his, squeezing his fingers gingerly as I slowly but not cruelly removed his warm, comforting hand from my face.

"No, Sasuke," I began though it pained me to keep saying these words, "…that's not something you were meant to do…not after what I've…"

"But I want to! Doesn't that count for something?!" Sasuke interrupted as he hastily placed both of his dripping wet hands on either side of my face now – the force of such a hurried, purposeful move making me back up the last remaining inch or so until I was pressed up cleanly against the shower wall.

Both of my younger brother's pleading hands holding my jaw, with his clothed but wholly drenched body adhered to my own naked form as if his life depended upon it, I felt that same resolve of mine that had been threatened before, totally crumble.

His damp chest touched my own every time Sasuke drew in breath and I could feel myself melting as he gently rubbed the pads of his thumbs over my cheekbones, as if he was admiring something precious that he held in his hands at last.

"Let me take care of you for a change…brother," Sasuke whispered against my lips, again making me visibly shiver at being recognized as his once-beloved sibling, "…please."

How could he say please to me?

It was too much, and I felt myself quietly breaking.

It pained me in a way that I had never experienced before – something dreadful that made me want to laugh out loud and cry into my hands at the same time.

"Sasuke, don't…don't ever say 'please' to me again," I half-stated, half-begged; unable to explain myself further even if I had wanted to.

Then, Sasuke did something I shall never forget…ever.

Using his fingers that he had firmly holding my jawline as leverage, Sasuke slowly angled my head down towards him, and firmly pressed his soft, supple lips to mine.

I could not believe this was happening at first, that Sasuke of all people was kissing me, a murderer, as I initially stilled and completely blanked. Sasuke was persistent; however, as I felt him just barely pull his lips away from mine, but only to give them a quick, light lick with his tongue before kissing me again, harder this time. Before I knew it, I was being effortlessly consumed in how inexplicably warm Sasuke felt against my flesh and how sinfully sweet his mouth was against mine.

I am quite certain what was left of my sanity at this point was completely disbanded as I acted immediately out of far-prolonged instinctual need, and wrapped my long, strong arms around his middle and effectively pulled him even closer to me.

No solid thoughts even stood a chance of being able to manifest now as Sasuke's hot fingers coasted further into my hair as I squeezed him tighter to my chest – Sasuke's head turning slightly to one side so he could take this one kiss of ours and turn it into a flurry of more.

Over and over again, Sasuke kissed my lips, my chin, my cheeks; all of them were the tenderest touches of human contact I had ever felt; and I was easily rendered practically useless and unstable as I gave his powerful, graceful back a few kneads with my hands in approval – my inner self convincing me already that I was hopelessly in love with Sasuke's kisses.

As almost painfully bittersweet as this moment was for me, I could not help but feel excessively guilty, not deserving of something so magnificent as Sasuke's lips. I longingly slid my hands to Sasuke's shoulders, seized them confidently but not harshly, and carefully pushed him away from me; just enough to where we had space to breathe and could speak again.

Heavy-hearted and almost to the point of tears again, I tentatively whispered, "Sasuke, you… shouldn't do that."

Not even I believed my own words, for as soon as they exited my mouth, my voice had dropped so considerably, and it was obvious that I was in conflicting distress with myself.

Sasuke did not even stir from my statement as I continued to hold his soaked, clothed shoulders in my hands to maintain our small but significant separation…though I already longed to feel those petal-soft lips of his again.

The greed of a man can be staggering, I suppose.

I kept my sightless eyes lowered and I knew some of my bangs were hanging carelessly in front of my face, as I began to retract my hands from Sasuke's smooth, incredibly inviting skin; my self-despair trying desperately to catch up to me to remind me that what I had said to Sasuke was right and had needed to be said.

I was a fool, and at the time, only Sasuke could recognize that.

My younger, more vigorous brother abruptly freed his hands from my hair, but only to throw his arms around my neck and hug me securely to his own, smaller frame – a complete disregard to my less than concrete proposal…something of which I was internally, mentally grateful.

My own arms rose up out of instinct, but once I felt Sasuke tuck his beautiful face below my chin and nuzzle my throat, I allowed myself to breathe easier, and tenderly encircled my arms around him as well; forever delighted with how needy and precious Sasuke truly was.

"…but I want to," Sasuke murmured into my collarbone as his arms tightened around my broad, strong shoulders, "…this is what I want, Itachi…right here…just you."

I think I might have literally died for a brief moment because I could not feel my heart beat any more.

My face showed that of intense strife for a second before I relaxed my features, felt my heart inside my chest again, and then craned my head down to "look" down at my pained, struggling little brother in my arms who clung to me with such desperate strength that it scorched my troubled soul and pierced right through my every ounce of pride.

Knowing he had my attention as well as a firm grasp on my very essence, Sasuke looked up directly in my face and whispered, "It's always just been you."

Again, I smiled sadly at such a meaningful, loaded statement from him; knowing full well the entirety of the spectrum to which he was referring; before holding him a little tighter, and replying quietly, honestly, "You got me, Sasuke."

_Author's Note_: Like whoa, got another chapter done. Yes! Thanks for the reviews so far, people – I hope I get more, though. XD Until next chapter, then, yes?


	3. Chapter 3

"_Those who make mistakes blame themselves and close their hearts. It's impossible to fix the mistake; men can't return to the past. That's why they drink." _– Vash the Stampede from Trigun

Chapter Three

_**Itachi's POV**_

"…_this is what I want, Itachi…right here…just you."_

That was what he had said to me last night.

That was what he had said to me last night that had completely overturned my world within the space of a second.

I knew things would never be the same again; I would never be the same again; and that frightened and electrified me with something extraordinary at the same time.

"_It's always just been you."_

My heart ached again upon remembering how Sasuke had said that to me as well – something I was also largely less than used to, so it further served to only trigger more bouts of confusion and depleting internal analysis.

It was frustrating as it was also oddly comforting; enough to make any normal person give up dramatically and question his sanity indefinitely.

Fortunately for me, I did have to worry about resulting to such an extreme state as I had already questioned my sanity many times in the past and was more then content with never giving such a twisted topic another look again.

Last night had ended with Sasuke and me making a solemn, barely audible promise to one another; something else that I know will be staying with me for a very long time.

"_Promise me, Itachi…" Sasuke said as he gripped my back harder with his seemingly deprived fingers and words, "…promise me you'll never…"_

"_I promise," I answered even though Sasuke had only let his words trail off rather than finish…but I knew what he was asking of me regardless, and I was more than obliged to give him my word straight away to put him at ease._

And with that, Sasuke had slowly, languidly peeled himself off of me, murmuring something behind his hand about how he needed to change into dry clothes and that I really had better hurry up before he ate dinner without me.

Back in the present, my mind was currently unable to cease pulling up such memories from only a few days' time, making me grin to myself as I continued walking blindly down the many, curving corridors with one hand feeling the wall next to me for guidance.

I was looking for the washroom, trying to recall my so-called "memorized" pathways to get to the destination from the previous night when Sasuke had led me to the shower, but this time things were not working out so well for me.

I honestly had no idea where I was, so I only had my recollections to keep me company at the moment…not that I minded, though.

My second dinner with Sasuke had ended this night, and I was beginning to think I finally understood was happiness and fulfillment truly mean in one's life, as I knew without a doubt that I thoroughly enjoyed eating with Sasuke and just talking aimlessly about anything with him.

The more random and light-hearted our conversations were, the better they made me feel.

Simple pleasure, really.

For instance, earlier tonight, Sasuke had asked me if I had been in any relationships with anyone while in Akatsuki.

I had blushed hotly when he posed such a nosy, obnoxious question, but still answered him nonetheless.

"_There was this one overly-annoying person named Deidara that was always nagging at me about being a couple, but that…is just not…a pleasant memory for me, so let's just drop it," I murmured clumsily, eager to move onto the next set of inquiries between us._

Sasuke had laughed at my little story, and I was immediately taken in and charmed by such a heart-warming, positive sound.

However, in friendly yet just retaliation; as per our new dinnertime rules; I decided to ask Sasuke a hugely embarrassing question.

"_Why did you kiss me in the shower yesterday?" I asked still with a kind, small smile on my face from before. _

I could sense the air between us quickly grow a touch more serious upon asking my question, and I sort of regretted doing so, until…

"_I just…really…needed to," Sasuke replied; there was no hesitation or uncertainty, as his words were extremely somber with heavy, hidden meanings behind each one. _

_Sasuke continued, probably feeling the need to clarify since I had chosen to remain quiet and calculative, "Do you remember that one day a long time ago when I hurt my leg while trying to impress you in the woods? And you had to carry me home?"_

_I set my cup with a soft 'clunk' on the table before answering, "Yep. You twisted your ankle pretty good that day as I recall."_

"_Well, it was not…entirely an accident," Sasuke confessed, prompting me to raise an eyebrow at him as he went on, "I had wanted to ride on big brother's back, and have my arms holding onto you."_

I was speechless, totally moved and humbled by this new revelation of such a treasured memory of mine, and I had to sort of uncomfortably dig my toe into the hard floor to keep from tearing up.

"_So…I kissed you last night because, just like that time when we were little, I just feel this strange urge to touch you."_

Then…I was flabbergasted, utterly unable to speak and I was also pretty sure that I would have ungracefully staggered back had I not already been sitting down.

I also was only made aware of the fact that my mouth was hanging open, for I suddenly felt Sasuke lightly dab his napkin to my lips; moving them around a little; as he chuckled cutely by my side and mumbled something about manners.

Dinner had ended quietly but peacefully after that.

The meals we shared on this second day of us being together were just so incredibly bittersweet and refreshing, as we brothers were just genuinely enjoying the other's company at last…as if nothing horrible had ever happened at all.

And I was actually becoming fond of our 'any question for a question' game that had initiated out of thin air; just us being curious about the others' life so far.

Any mental discord I had been previously having was blissfully decreasing with each passing moment I spent with Sasuke, so I had felt confident enough about walking around on my own for a change.

Wrong.

I was completely lost, and had been so for a while now.

For the briefest of moments, my thoughts would wander off onto unexplainable tangents, like how I wondered if Sasuke would ever find me, how the miso soup at dinner tonight may have had too much tofu in it, how going to the washroom did not even seem important to me anymore…etc.

Wait.

What was that noise?

"ITACHI!!!" Sasuke shouted from down another hallway that was a little further ahead and on my left; making me realize that I must have been coming close to another open section that veered off in multiple directions.

He sounded scared and angry; like he had been crying, and my throat tried to close up before I forced it not to so I may reply back to him.

"Right here!" I called back, still walking slowly with my hand gliding alongside on the cool, rough surface of the stone wall next to me.

I did not have to walk too much further, though, for I was suddenly felt two long, lean arms wrap around my middle before being roughly tackled to the ground with all of Sasuke's weight directly on top of me.

I sort of 'oof'ed upon being hurled to the ground as abruptly and unexpectedly as I had been; my breath momentarily leaving my lungs before I mentally collected myself and carefully sat up on my elbows.

I really wished I could have seen Sasuke right now, for he still had not let go of the sides of my new shirt as he kept his forehead pressed firmly against my stomach – his whole body trembling as his fingers clutched tighter onto my clothes.

"I've been looking for you everywhere…" Sasuke said shakily, desperate not to let his sobbing show too much, "I was…going crazy…not knowing where you were."

"Sasuke, I…" I felt so ashamed; this was my fault; "I'm sorry."

"You promised!" Sasuke suddenly shouted as he raised his head from my torso so he could properly look me in the face as he vented; his next sentence much more grief-stricken, though, as he continued, "…you…p-promised me."

My heart broke, and I had to swallow this horrid, awful-tasting lump in my throat before speaking.

"I…wasn't leaving, Sasuke," I explained calmly, taking a chance and freeing a hand so I could touch him, "…I'm not going to break my promise."

I did not have to reach far before I felt the smooth, soft skin of Sasuke's cheek against my fingertips; my fingers slow and careful in their movements so as to soothe and not frighten him anymore.

I never wanted to frighten Sasuke again.

As I slid my fingers adoringly across his cheek and a little into his hair, effectively holding his small face in my hand, I felt Sasuke sigh comfortably against my palm and lean into my touch.

The realization made my soul stir in the pit of my stomach that I could relax him like this.

"I…I thought…"Sasuke whispered as he subtly turned his face more into my hand so that I felt his nose and lips against my flesh, "…I was going to lose you again…Itachi."

The previously broken pieces of my heart easily, painfully melted down into a liquid-hot mass of nervousness and trepidation, and I knew that the only thing I could do to handle this situation, was just do whatever I just felt was right.

That being said, I automatically pushed myself into a sitting position and pulled Sasuke the rest of the way into my lap; the younger simply complying as I kept my one hand gently on his face and added the other to the other side.

"You won't lose me. I swear, Sasuke," I said softly but resiliently to my little brother as he continued holding my shirt in an iron grip while my sightless stare remorsefully could not see his perfect, angelic face as I so desperately wanted to.

I think it was at this moment that I subconsciously accepted the fact that I would give anything in order to physically see him again.

Sasuke had been so thoroughly rattled by my temporary absence – I was stunned and more than humbled by such a strong, passionate response; I had to hold him closer and tell him over and over that I was sorry.

Slipping my hands from his tear-dampened face into his silken, spiked hair; I mindfully brought the side of his face to my chest and held him as a parent would hold their distraught child that needed comforting words and contact immediately.

Into his naturally unruly hair, I breathed, "I'm sorry Sasuke…so sorry. I won't leave your side again if that's what you wish."

"It is. So…never again, okay?" he replied around his quieting sobs with a little bit of a childish whine to his voice; my eyebrows instantly rising as a small smile tugged at my lips in response.

His impossibly tight grip on my shirt loosened until he just finally dropped his hands into his lap; the move cueing me to start detaching myself from him as well – we had been sitting there for a short while, and I could only presume that both of us were getting tired.

I had only just shifted my weight a little, as one needs to do to in order to somewhat elegantly stand up from sitting on the ground, but stopped moving the instant I heard Sasuke tell me to simply 'wait.'

I froze and asked, "What is it, Sasuke?"

Quite amazingly, I actually heard him softly lick his lips before cooing lowly but seriously to me, "Sleep with me tonight."

I was silent for a moment; save for a small, troubled sigh that escaped me; as things on my mental List of Smart and Smooth Replies were being hastily eliminated one by one for me to use.

With my mind unable to find any kind of organized answer to such an out-of-the-blue request, I stammered and sighed out rather unintelligibly, "Uh…um…"

Sure to have picked up on my instantaneous apprehension towards the proposal, Sasuke quickly added, "Just sleep. I just want you to be there with me…pl-"

I hurriedly placed a no-nonsense finger to his lips upon hearing the beginning of the one word I asked Sasuke not to say to me, for reasons concerning my clear and evident undeserving state to have those kind of politesse said to me from someone like him…and how insanely horrible it made me feel to actually hear it from Sasuke.

It just was not fair to Sasuke, so I was quick to prevent it from happening – I could not break any more at this point.

"It's fine, Sasuke. I'll do as you say…just…come on," I replied probably a little too cold to him as I moved to stand up again; Sasuke immediately following my lead and getting to his feet as well.

What I had wanted to say instead was_, "I'll do as you say, just please…stop being so nice to me. I cannot accept something like that from you. I am not worthy of it. You should never have to say 'please' to me. Do you understand?"_

I had chosen to say what I had, however, because I knew Sasuke would protest to the fullest extent to the latter idea. He was always so stubborn, and I knew that he just plain would not understand what I was trying to tell him in this respect.

With Sasuke leading the way, we walked side by side in a mutual silence – both of us having a lot to turn over in our minds at the moment concerning the other and what had happened back there in the corridor where we met up.

My brows felt permanently knitted together as I could not help but feel incredibly guilty for how I spoke to Sasuke, basically just writing him and his idea off just so we could get moving and avoid any further digging into such a sensitive subject.

"The room is on the right. When you go in, there's a bathroom about twenty-seven feet to your left, bed is directly ahead a good fifteen feet, and there are a few armchairs and dressers located on the opposite side of the room from here," Sasuke explained to me; my own mind's eye painting all of this information inside my head so I could better know where these things were.

"Got it," I replied back militarily with a sharp nod of my head, still too damned choked up and insecure to apologize profusely for my own pitiful cruelty just yet.

"Okay, well, go on in. I'll be right back," Sasuke said; the subtle but brutally present sadness in his voice more than killing me in this point in the game, and I knew right then that as soon as he got back, I was going to apologize to him as I knew I should.

Turning to my right, I walked into the room, hearing the audible difference between the sounds of my footsteps on the hard hallway floors, and the much smoother, hollower sounds produced by the better-kept bedroom flooring.

Admittedly, I bumped into the bed, overestimating its distance within the room a little, but then made my way around it; trailing my fingers against the soft edges as I went; until I located one of the aforementioned armchairs on the far end of the room.

They seemed to be rather large in size and quite comfortable, but my only desire was to place my clothes on one of them before retiring.

Meticulously, since I was too caught up in the mental tides of doubt and low self-efficacy, I stripped off my black, three-quarter length shirt, folded it, and placed on the chair cushion. Next to come off were my recently acquired forearm wrappings, which I expertly unraveled, collected neatly into rolls, and then placed next to my shirt. Last to be removed was my new fishnet shirt that I folded as well and placed on top of everything – pants and necklace stayed on.

I stretched my neck out to a side to relieve a bit of the anxiety-induced stress I had built up over the past few hours, and then remembered to take down my pony-tail.

Hands in my hair tugging away at the little band of elastic, I sat down on the bed, pleasantly surprised to feel how supple and soft it really was. The comforter was just pliant enough to still be warm and durable, but while still having this undeniable cloud-like touch to it – I knew I was going to sleep well.

My hair-tie securely on my wrist, I dropped my shoulders down dramatically so I could have a moment where I did not have to hold them up anymore and just let my constantly-alert muscles and stature have a small break.

I craned my neck to the other side this time, pleased when I heard another satisfying crack, before simply dropping my head down low and thoughtfully running my fingers through some loose strands of my long hair.

I probably looked like someone going out of their right mind, the way I continued to meticulously comb through my hair with my fingers and just sit in silence – all the while, my thoughts would just not stop even despite how sinfully exhausted I was.

It had been a long past few days, and I felt the weight of it all trying to creep up on me as I was left by myself and flirting with desolation anyway.

Then, I heard Sasuke enter the room and approach the bed, opposite to where I was.

Facing away from him and just staring at nothing with dreary, half-lidded eyes, I breathed in a good amount of air before slowly exhaling it out – all the while, I could hear the small 'plaps' of his discarded garments being tossed onto the bed as he undressed.

I licked my suddenly dry lips before saying, "Sasuke, I have to apologize to you."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked as he gathered up his carelessly tossed clothes into his arms and briefly walked away for a second – to put them in some kind of receptacle, no doubt.

"I had no right to be rude to you earlier. So…I'm sorry," I confessed mournfully, sort of feeling like a 'bad dog' that had bitten his master or something of the sort.

His side of the large, overly-compensated bed dipped down for a second, making me realize that Sasuke had already lain down – him still having yet to say anything back to me.

I followed his example, having needed him to act first before I did since this was his idea and I was only to do what he wanted me to, and got situated under the covers on my side; already taking in how wonderful the numerous pillows were against my head and shoulders, how heavenly the sheets felt against my bruised, harsh skin, and how just sleep-inviting the huge, extravagant bed was overall.

My eyes closed right away; too tired to remain open while lying on something so magnificent and appealing; as I quickly re-arranged my hair from being trapped underneath my body to splaying out amongst the pillows.

"Itachi," Sasuke said in a very adorable 'bedroom voice,' drawing my attention straight away, though I did not open my eyes.

"Mmm…" was my sleep-craving reply back to my younger brother lying equally comfortably next to me.

"I don't hate you, you know" Sasuke whispered as he scooted closer to me, inch by scrupulous inch which only served to drive away my lovely fatigue and make me acutely aware of what he was doing.

His quiet but powerful declaration made me open my eyes; my face already that of distress and worry once I did so…and for one reason or another; I simply could not find my voice or reason right away.

Sighing to myself, I knew I needed to get over my own mental friction and say something to intervene before he could get any closer - again, my motives relying on my self-imposed fact that I did not deserve such treatment from him and how it would probably be best if Sasuke kept his distance from me, theoretically as well as literally.

I just did not want to see him get hurt, or have any further trouble on my behalf anymore.

"Maybe you should, Sasuke…" I replied with more than sorrow in my soft, whispered words to my little brother who was now right by my side; the tips of his toes lightly touching my ankle as he curled his body even closer to me and placed a tentative hand on my shoulder nearest him.

He must have been lying on his side with his cool, piercing eyes looking directly at me.

I gulped and cast my sightless eyes away from him; feeling completely at fault…and more than tempted to just ignore it and accept this new-found tenderness in my life; like some kind of uncaring and undignified lush who does not know the first thing about something like caring about someone else so much that you'd see to them not having to care about you.

"I don't…and I won't ever," he repeated gravely with a tiny, emphasizing squeeze to my shoulder, his warm breath ghosting over the flesh of my bicep; making me shiver and draw my bottom lip into my mouth to slightly nip at in between my teeth.

Apparently wise to the torture I was currently inflicting to my lips, Sasuke removed his hand from my shoulder and instead placed it on my cheek, gingerly turning my head to face him.

His thumb rubbed back and forth over my lips; rendering me unable to gnaw on my sensitive flesh any more; and I could not help but start to relax from such a calming, repetitive ministration that truly meant the world and more to me.

"I wish I could take away your pain, Itachi..."Sasuke confessed as his gentle stroking of my lips came to a halt; my heart practically ready to burst out of my throbbing chest at this moment as my mind raced to desperately understand the gravity of what Sasuke was really telling me.

"Sasuke…"I sort of pleaded to him with a defeated sigh, unable to say any other words, though I wanted to with every fiber of my being – so much to tell and ask, but no words to even construct the proper ways of doing so.

I felt a little trapped by my own wordless melancholy.

Suddenly, I felt Sasuke's bare chest slide over mine as he pulled his upper half somewhat on top of me at an obscure angle – his lips quick to find my own and capture them in their warm, welcoming embrace.

The hand that was previously holding my cheek was now gripping the corner of the pillow that I was resting on as Sasuke held himself up and over me; his hot, supple mouth needy and wanton against my own; totally stealing away the rest of my conscious thought and vocabulary.

In carefully executed movements, Sasuke tilted his head to a side to deepen our kiss as he also shifted more of weight on top of me – both sets of lips parting only to be reattached again as Sasuke plunged his soft, wet tongue inside my mouth that immediately sought out my own with which to play.

I was so wonderfully thoughtless in this moment, too caught up in everything that was Sasuke to care about anything else – how his soft bangs tickled my cheeks, how indescribably cleansing and amazing his lips and tongue felt against my own, and how everything that Sasuke seemed to do and say to me was nothing short of a miracle.

Hopelessly caught in his blissful spell, I lifted my hands and gently seized the sides of his jaw, determined to have a little control of the situation as I hastily parted our lips but only to have his head angled the other way before attacking his mouth again; our all-too eager tongues already meeting outside of our mouths before our lips were completely pressed together again.

Much to my delight, this made Sasuke mewl for me and free his hands from wherever they were to greedily clutch onto my bare, broad shoulders; such a highly arousing sound and action by him totally electrifying my senses and making me softly pant for him in turn.

Then, in a move that had me gloriously at my wits' end and ready to do virtually anything for this man, Sasuke leisurely slid his hands from my shoulders up my neck and to my jawline, taking hold of lightly with dexterous, determined fingers that had me melting underneath them.

Breaking off our kiss, Sasuke carefully tilted my head back with his hands as he let his lips travel down to my throat; pressing kiss after kiss until he reached my Adam's apple that he proceeded to lick and nip at affectionately.

Upon having our lips separated at first, I had let a tiny, airless sigh escape me, but when I had felt Sasuke attend to my throat; his fingers still keeping my chin tilted upwards as he worked; I could not help it when my lips parted further in surprise and I gasped out loud.

Sasuke obviously approved of my reaction as I felt his lips curve into a wicked smile against my heated, sweating flesh as he pressed another chaste kiss to my throat.

As soon as his lips finished their kiss with a little wet smacking sound, Sasuke removed his hands from my face and planted them firmly on the bed beside me, slowly lifting himself up from my larger form and hovering directly above me – my nerves on fire and positively sizzling with a ravenousness need for more.

"I love you, Itachi," Sasuke purred to me, still keeping just barely above me so he could probably read any reactions, "…I always have."

"Sasuke, I…"I tried, but stopped with a sigh upon feeling Sasuke lower his head down to mine and tenderly trace his lips against my cheek, almost as if he was savoring how I felt against his own skin.

"Tell me you love me, Itachi," Sasuke breathed against my face as he nuzzled my cheek a little bit harder; totally endearing and slaughtering me in the direst of ways, "…please, I need to hear that you love me…"

That was it. I was broken - wholly and permanently.

I turned my face towards his, returning his practically delectable nuzzling for a moment, before softly kissing his lips and wrapping my arms possessively around his shoulders; making his smaller frame all but melt into my own as he returned my kiss with such dedicated fervor that I knew what I was about to say would not be in vain in any way.

Still keeping our lips touching from our kiss, quietly, sincerely, I said to him, "I love you, Sasuke…I've never stopped either. And I meant what I said before; I'm never going to leave you again. I think I would rather die..."

I felt a single tear hit my collarbone before I freed my hands from around his back and brought them to his lovely, silently crying face again to wipe them away for him – I severely needed him to know that I really did care about him.

Sasuke sniffed before laying his head down on my chest; his body still breathing a bit hard from his short bout of crying; but it was quick to regain normalcy once more as he settled down and grew more comfortable lying on top of me.

"I wouldn't allow it…you to die…never…"Sasuke drowsily murmured from my chest as it became quite noticeable that he was quickly falling asleep; probably from mental exhaustion alone that our time together had spurred from so many obstacles having had to be cleared and whatnot.

I smiled at my little brother's less-than-intelligible words as I felt his breathing became steady and even; my heart swelling up dramatically of how incurably cute this was to me.

His long limbs situated, his face perfectly cuddled against my chest, I relaxed as well and just loosely held him in a sleepy embrace – my previously tormented and fearful mind perfectly at ease at this moment.

Everything was so becoming so unbelievably clear to me now, like dirt being washed off of something to reveal what was beautiful underneath. I felt content, satisfied, blissful, but more than anything, I felt this remarkable sensation of freedom take over.

It was unlike anything I had ever felt or experienced before – back when I still had seemingly unlimited restrictions and codes to abide by and tip-toe around in order just to survive and carry out orders.

No. Not anymore.

Sasuke telling me he loved me, that he wanted to be with me…going crazy when I left his sights for a moment – it all made me feel blessed and fortunate, for the first time in my life.

Now, as my cherished little brother slept soundly on my chest with his arms and legs sprawled out at odd angles across the bed, my heart was positively leaping with joy; making me smirk in the darkened, silent bedroom as I could not help but allow myself to really appreciate this moment that I never thought would happen.

I knew from that point on that I had been given a second chance…and that Sasuke had not only saved my life, but he had given me a new one as well.

_Author's Note_: Ha! Sweet Lord, this chapter was such a haggard bitch to write. lol. …with the flashbacks and the…whatever…going on, yeah. Crazy. Hope you liked it, so drop me a line however you please. Thanks and have a most extraordinary day, yes? XD


	4. Chapter 4

"_It is more noble to give yourself completely to one person than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses."_ – Dag Hammarskjold

X

"_Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted." _– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Chapter Four

_**Sasuke's POV**_

It was ironic – sick, even.

It took Itachi to lose his sight, for me to be able to see him with new eyes.

A rather poetic sacrifice; one that I was not about to take for granted.

He had been with me for six days now, and I swear – he captivated me more and more with each day that passed.

I had always admired him for his natural, stoic beauty; but now, being an adult, I could fully appreciate how sophisticated his movements were, and how enticingly fluid and graceful he was as he performed even the simplest tasks.

The way he combed his long, silken hair when he woke up in the morning; the way he mindfully, meticulously ate his meals at the table; the way he just always seemed like he was always at this state of effortless peace – it all had me practically longing for him.

As I currently sat perched on top of a shaded tree limb that overlooked the lair, I silently watched as Itachi meditated on the rooftop; his profile to me as he sat cross-legged, back straight, hands in his lap, and just sought out tranquility through nature.

That was something else I've been doing a lot of lately – just watching him from a distance when he thought he was alone. That way, I was sure to get a more candid, unreserved view of Itachi…when he was truly at his purest and most favorable as he went about things like I was not even there.

I had seen it when Itachi bumped into the bed the first time he had entered our bedroom on account of him not being used to being blind or his new surroundings that he still needed to feel out. It was easily the most charming thing I had ever seen in my life and my heart soared with endearment at the sight; making me feel sharp pulls at my feet to go over to him and help him out. However, knowing that that would have given myself away and spoiled any future plans of mine to watch him in secret again, I did nothing except continue on with my original task of briefly leaving him so I could lock the door to the main entrance…just to be safe.

I realized that I was obsessed…probably the moment everything sank with its full weight into my chest after Itachi had told me everything – when I had cried into my hands in one of the hallways. It was then that I knew I could not be without Itachi again…ever. It went far beyond my self-imposed obligation to take care of my wounded big brother, because I am regrettably more selfish than that.

I needed him by my side because I knew that I would deteriorate without him – I needed Itachi's words in my ear, his breath on my skin, his smile directed only towards me.

Itachi finally being with me, talking with me, sleeping next to me every night and just being a permanent fixture in my life again…it felt like time itself had stopped, just for the two of us. Few else barely even registered with me anymore, since this was so surreal and just…impossibly intoxicating.

I never wanted to be sober again if this was, in fact, drug-induced.

"_You won't lose me. I swear, Sasuke…"_ was what Itachi had told me awhile ago. He had had this look; this inconceivably sincere expression on his heavenly face that served to tear me up just as severely as his absence had; as he comforted me in that dimly lit corridor that one night.

Studying him as I was now, I could not help but reflect on that moment as it dawned on me that this situation was about more than him not leaving me…it was a matter of me not allowing him to leave.

He was absolutely perfect to me, and I could not take my fixated stare away from his gorgeous form as sporadic wind gusts gently tugged at his long, glossy hair that he had chosen to leave free from his hair tie while he meditated by himself.

It had killed me when he used to resist my touch, almost as if he was afraid of something or believed so thoroughly that he should not entitled to such things – every time his face showed that of pain or confusion, my underlying anger towards the Leaf Village would flare up in an unbelievable blind rage.

It was their fault entirely – Itachi having to live with such monumental burdens all by himself, all the lies that had taken place between us, and how he was now adapted to believing that he did not deserve my love…it all made me want to personally rip off the elders' heads and feast on their entrails in front of the entire village until my bloodlust was sated.

However…seeing Itachi right now, as stunning and collected as he appeared to be while he only sat still and cleared his mind, I could not help but be rendered to the mindset of _'Leaf…who?'_

Amazing.

Again, Itachi was making me realize every day that nothing else mattered, now that he and I were together and happy once more.

Suddenly, I spotted Itachi giving his neck a little roll to undoubtedly relieve some built-up tension from not moving for such a long time; his shoulders following the same motion briefly before he dropped them again and resumed his initial position. I had seen him do that before on a couple other occasions as well, and I quickly manifested an idea of how to use this information to my advantage.

Truth be told, I had been positively burning with this maddening, consuming call to be physically closer to Itachi in any possible way I could manage. That was why Itachi was not allowed to have his own room and had to sleep in mine; it gave me a chance to try to find ways of getting closer to him as we both went about our everyday, mundane things and routines.

I desired nothing else in the world more than to break down what was left of his reservations and fears, to wholly assert that he could trust me because I trusted him, and most importantly…that I was hopelessly in love with him.

It was time to put my newly created idea into motion…before I exploded and really lost my mind.

Effortlessly, I leapt from my branch and directly onto the rooftop, about thirty feet away from where Itachi was; my landing was just barely audible from years of training, but I already assumed that Itachi knew I was there.

"Beautiful afternoon, isn't it?" he asked coolly without moving so much as an inch and still having his sightless eyes closed.

I straightened myself up from my land and began walking over to him; my steps mindful that we were on top of an old, shingled roof that could probably start sliding off any moment.

I wet my lips before speaking to him; the torturous distance between us narrowing with each careful step I took – my fingertips starting to feel light while my ribs felt heavy as my thoughts raced with countless, overlapping scenarios of just how I could take him at this moment.

"Very beautiful," I answered back finally, my mind on anything else but the too-bright afternoon as I watched my brother slightly give his neck another stretch before making arrangements to finally drop his form and stand up, thereby ending his meditation.

I was too quick for him, though, as I was already right next to him and was able to place my hands firmly on the tops of his shoulders to keep him stayed put.

I sank down to be on my knees behind Itachi's sitting form, my hands still grasping his shoulders for support as I made the transition, before fondly gathering up his lengthy midnight black hair into one hand and draping it over one of his shoulders.

"What are you doing, Sasuke?" Itachi asked me with an evident smile in his voice, making his tone more upbeat and lightheartedly cheerful as he posed his "big brother" question to me.

In an answer before I verbally answered him, I returned my hands to his shoulders again and roughly squeezed the broad, sturdy muscles there with my fingers.

"Ugh…" he responded at once; a sort of nonsensical, breathless word leaving my brother's soft, lust-inspiring lips as he craned his head back towards me a little in appreciation of the sensation.

I scooted closer to him so that my thighs touched his back as I administered another especially hard squeeze to his tense shoulders as I purred, "Helping you relax."

Upon feeling me grip and knead his large shoulders over and over again, Itachi now dropped his head down and said a very joking, "Ha! Yeah, right…ooh…"

My fingers were determined to wring out as many of those delicious sounds from him as I could – my ears already positively in love with hearing Itachi's low, timbered baritone voice 'coo' and 'ahh' from my every move.

I was aching with so much painful need at the moment as I trailed my hands up from Itachi's shoulders to his neck, already pinching the taut muscles that instantly made him lean back into my thighs a little more and groan in response.

A few times, strands of his hair or his thin, silver necklace would get rubbed against him with my massages, but Itachi did not seem to mind as I figured he had to be feeling rather boneless at the moment with the way he was acting like putty in my hands.

I had to stop; I was totally losing my senses to this man and his magnificent reactions to my touches.

"Feeling any better?" I asked cockily with a smile as I lowered my hands from his neck down to his arms which I only lightly touched with my fingertips…just to make him shiver.

"Mhmm…"Itachi said dreamily as he leaned further into my petal-soft stroking of his clothed arms, "…much better now."

I could not take it anymore, not for a second longer – not with him craving my touches and practically purring for me as he was.

"Itachi…" I whispered into his ear, my lips barely ghosting over his wind-chilled flesh as I then turned my petting of the back of his arms into possessive grips on his firm triceps, "shall we continue this in our room?"

It was not a question; more like an inarguable demand of my older brother as I knew I was already at my limit with him.

I had to initiate our next step, I had to have more precious contact with him; I had to…make sure he knew without an ounce of doubt that I was serious about him.

Perhaps equally matching these hovering enveloping notions within me was the pulsating presence of how I needed to know for certain that he wanted me too – that I would not be ill-received.

I do not think I would have been able to handle such a devastating blow like that from him whatsoever.

I craved for his touch more than a starving man would for a bite to eat…and I could not go without it for one minute longer. Just like that critically starving man can ascertain about the food he is lacking, I just knew that I would die without Itachi's full attention being in my life anymore

To my rather unbridled request spoken so softly in his ear, Itachi had stilled underneath my hands for a moment; his breath evidently catching in his throat as he could not answer me right away. I could already imagine how many different ways my darling brother was thinking up as to how to gently turn me down; allowing his hurtful memories to resurface and be detrimental to the both of us once more, as Itachi had still yet to properly forgive himself.

…which is why what I had had in mind was so incredibly necessary.

He needed to understand that I had forgiven him, loved him so much it sometimes caused me physical pain, and how I simply did not care about too much else anymore.

"Sasuke, I don't think…"he tried slowly, as his low tone already sounded like not even he believed what he was saying to me…before I cut him off with a kiss.

My actions were bordering on fierce as I had moved to be in front of him within the blink of an eye – my lips harshly demanding his own even faster.

Itachi, bless him, easily melted from my bold claiming of his mouth as we both simultaneously parted out lips and entwined our tongues – the act swiftly making my blood pump at a staggering rate through my veins as I lost all touch of the birds chirping in the trees nearby and the slight chilly-sting that came with the rushing wind.

By now, Itachi knew exactly how to kiss me to render me a hot mess, and I loved every second of it – our tongues battling for dominance against one another, but only to lovingly, tantalizingly oblige defeat and just allow all the stirring sensations to wash over us in waves.

My hands squeezed at his arms with such urgency behind my strength that Itachi purred inside my mouth form the stimulation; the sounds and feelings elicited by him were practically reverberating through my systems and clouding my mind before I even realized it.

Then, in a flash that miraculously succeeded in both making my hazed senses both clear up and worsen at the same time, Itachi whispered against my lips, "…alright."

X

Two sets of identical, pink lips were desperate to stay together, to feel the other as much as possible, while Itachi and I hastily tried to strip the other of their drastically bothersome clothing.

Rushed, needy hands gripped at my loose, white shirt to push it from my shoulders, while my fingers virtually tore at his black shirt in my own efforts to do the same to him.

We had just barely made it to our spacious but faintly-lit room before practically attacking the other as an unspoken race to undress and feel the other broke out between us; spurning on from so much heavy emotion and constantly constrained tension that had finally reached its boiling point.

Our actions were that of pure, unsolicited necessity as our breath mixed together sensually while our lips met again and again as we rid each other of shirts, wrappings, sash, and rope – my hands on him were praiseworthy and furious in their roughness as I ran them over his perfectly carved torso.

Itachi gasped, breaking off our heated kiss, as my hands slid across his sides and he knowingly raised his arms so I may lift his fishnet undershirt off him now that his black shirt was decorating my floor. I yanked the sheer material from my brother's immaculate body at once and took but the tiniest of moments to admire how flawless his skin and shape truly were – even the small number of scars that crisscrossed over his ribs here and there seemed to be inexplicably ideal since they were on him.

Be that as it may, I was currently in a maddening, lust-stricken hurry, so I only allowed myself to gaze at him for a second before I planted both of my palms against Itachi's smooth, muscled chest and pushed him down flat on the bed that was a few inches behind him.

The bedsprings sort of creaked from having his weight be so forcefully administered to them suddenly, as Itachi now lay sprawled out across the side of my previously disarranged, white bed that already had the thick comforter pushed back when we had gotten up this morning and left it in shambles.

Now, I could not help but let my eyes wander for an elongated moment as I absentmindedly licked my lips at the sight of my beautiful older brother laying on his back before me; waiting for me and only me; with his long, unkempt black hair fanned out all wildly over the crisp white sheets in the most elegant manner.

Growling a bit in my throat in consuming, primal anticipation, I sank down on my knees in between his parted legs that were still clothed and draped over the edge of the bed, the word 'beautiful' mindlessly passing my lips to which Itachi quirked up an eyebrow and muttered a bashful, "Shut up."

To this, I chuckled; delighted with him in every possible way; as I inched closer to him and skillfully hooked my fingers underneath the top hem of his pants. With an angle of my head, my lips were pressed to his nicely toned abdomen while I smoothly pulled his black pants from his trim, sex-promising hips and down his long legs; another shaky gasp escaping from him again upon feeling my warm, wet mouth and tongue lavishly explore his stomach.

I briefly felt his abdomen muscles tense up underneath me before relaxing; a satisfied 'ooh' left my older brother as he let me finish stripping him while he sensually fisted the sheets by his sides in response to my ticklish, torturous ministrations to his sensitive skin.

Never one to beg for mercy, but I was vastly drowning in everything Itachi had to offer at the moment – every small sound he made because of the pleasure he was receiving was inebriating; the sweet, musky smell of his wind-kissed flesh so close to my own was positively mind-warping.

One last lick to his taut stomach with the flat of my tongue, followed by an animalistic 'mmm' on my part before I then focused my attention on Itachi's completely rigid, exposed member before me.

Casting one last, narrow-eyed glance to my brother's handsome face, I could not help myself as I said huskily, playfully, "Itachi, I cannot believe you didn't fuck everyone in Akatsuki while you were there, not with _this_ in your pants…"

Even before I finished my purposefully crude statement, Itachi had already said an astounded 'what!?' which turned into an unrestrained and unsteady 'ohh…shit…' when I enclosed my mouth around the glistening, swollen head of his cock and took hold of it at the base in an iron grip.

My lips inched down Itachi's massive cock; my mouth devouring all of his hot flesh as I swirled my tongue against the throbbing underside as I worked – my free hand sliding up my brother's thigh and onto his hipbone which I squeezed provocatively while I continued taking him down my throat.

Itachi already had his back arched for me, his lovely face tilted back into the mattress, as he initially grit his teeth but then erotically sighed out his pleasure while easily slipping his large hands into my hair; my name dripping silkily from his lips in the process, while my own lips were stretched wide around Itachi's thick length.

I smirked around Itachi's pulsating member and then freed both of my hands that I admiringly trailed over his groin; my fingers making a game out of teasing him and applying pressure here and there; while I slowly began moving my head up and down in his lap – my brother's gorgeous cock filling my waiting mouth over and over at a painstaking, savoring pace that I knew had to be killing him more than anything.

Slender, deadly fingers alternated from sifting appreciatively through my hair and delivering little tugs to my short, black locks; his exquisite voice louder against the silence of the room when I specially sucked harder and scratched rougher against his skin – his every reaction encouraging me to pick up my pace and give him even more pleasure.

Faster now, with more hard-pressed motivation to see my older, otherwise highly-reserved brother totally come apart before me, I pumped his cock in my hand while taking as much of him as I could into my mouth at the same time; my tongue eager to lap up his smooth, warm pre-come that leaked out of the slit as I practically begged him with my actions to come for me.

Itachi was all breathless pants of air at this point; his tanned, lean form arching and squirming around a bit amongst my sheets as I allowed him to further indulge himself as he used his hands in my hair to guide my head along his shaft; the pace was almost desperate from us both and I knew that my dear brother was getting remarkably close to reaching his climax.

I wanted him to come so badly it was quickly developing into an infatuation of mine and I involuntarily begun purring deep in my throat for him, as if he was the one most delectable thing that I could not stop from savoring the taste of.

Then, like music to my ears, Itachi tightened his grip in my hair almost to the point of slight discomfort and stammered shakily, "Sasuke, wait…if you keep doing that…nnh…I'm…going to come…ah…"

I had to smile again as my free hand clutched tighter onto his hip in determination and the other one gave his cock a reassuring squeeze while I brought him off, my lips starting to feel a bit numb but I could not have cared less for I was just so desperate to have Itachi orgasm right in front of me.

Realizing I was not about to let up, Itachi's toes curled against the bedroom floor as his back arched beautifully off the bed again; his one hand still behind my head while he suddenly filled my mouth with his hot, creamy essence that I instantly concentrated on swallowing every last drop of – my name softly, lovingly flowing from his parted, luscious lips while he tensed briefly as he came in multiple, thick spurts down my throat.

Sated but still unbelievably hard, I let Itachi's slick cock slip from my swollen lips; my chilly black eyes glazed over with unspeakable lust and forbidden desires as I looked upon my panting, incredibly alluring brother who I could still taste on my tongue.

Without a murmur of a doubt, I knew I loved this man more than anything else in the world; be it frowned upon or not; I would never let anyone else have him.

He was mine.

Itachi licked his lips and visibly swallowed before he said rather listlessly, "Sasuke…"

Stepping out of my own pants at last, I languidly crawled over my brother's laying form who looked like could have been told the planet was about to explode any second and it would not have bothered him in the least.

I took extra care to make sure I rubbed up against various parts of his immaculate body with my own as I slinked up to face him; my hands on either side of him on the bed until I rested my full weight on top of him – my pale skin was on fire from being on top of his much more tanned and toned body at last and I had to internally remind myself to keep it together.

Slightly unsure hands slowly rose up to either side of my face and gently took hold of it; bringing us even closer together as Itachi kissed me passionately and I was able to feel his wonderful love, his immeasurable gratitude; his everything through his lips against mine.

While I was quite certain I could kiss this man forever, I nonetheless, broke off our sugar-sweet kiss as I was aching in the most excruciating of ways to do more with Itachi now that he was finally within my grasp and in the proper mindset that I had been wanting him to be in since we started living together.

I firmly took hold of one his hands from my face and easily slipped a few of his purple-painted fingers into my mouth, my moist tongue licking them generously so they were coated with just enough of my saliva.

Itachi shivered underneath me from feeling his fingers being sucked and licked so erotically, just as his cock had been only a few minutes ago, and I saw him bite his bottom lip in a gripping attempt to keep himself in check while I performed this rousing task to him.

Releasing his slender digits from my torturous, skilled mouth, I still held onto his hand so I may direct it as I pleased down my own slim body as I purred against his lips, "Be gentle with me…big brother."

And before he could say anything in reply, by my hand guiding his own, I made him plunge his moistened fingers into my entrance to which I immediately arched a little off of him and hissed through my teeth at the initial pain of being stretched.

Upon hearing my little noise of discomfort, Itachi stilled and said seriously to me, "You don't have to do this, Sasuke."

I huffed lightheartedly and replied haughtily as I made myself relax around his intruding fingers, "How many times do I have to tell you? I said I wanted to take care of you…so shut up and prepare me properly."

To my less-than-stern but still genuine request and connotation, Itachi smirked up at me; now being wise to our game; and said curtly, "As you wish, then."

The next instant, his long, skilled fingers were pushed deeper inside of me, already seeking out that one spot that would render me a shivering pile of Uchiha mush in his lap; every time his fingers plunged back into me in his search, I felt my skin become slick with sweat and other juices and my entrance slowly accommodate to be spread open accordingly.

Still straddling Itachi's waist, I could not help but hum and groan from his fingers working diligently inside of me and positively making me a mindless, lustful fool; supple, perfect lips finding out mine so my brother may be allowed to muffle and feel my own experienced sensations for himself as he pleasured and teased me to no end.

Having this man's tantalizing lips on my own and three of his fingers successfully moving inside of me, I was sure I had lost my mind, as I could not wait any longer until I had Itachi's cock buried within me in their place to bring the both of us astounding pleasure – pleasure that would indefinitely mean that Itachi would be mine and mine alone.

"Itachi…ahh…" was the only thing I could accurately speak – I wanted to say more; something much more erotic to him; but I was highly unable to right now since I was becoming restless and extremely needy at this point – his fingers inside my entrance were more like a progressing taunt to his sex now and it was absolutely driving me mad with unfathomable desire.

Wise to my suffering as I'm sure he could probably hear it in my whines and feel it when I trembled if his fingers were in too deep, Itachi quickly pulled out his fingers with a distinguished 'squelch' sound and then placed his hands on both of my hips – my body automatically leaning back so I could sit up straight in his lap as a result.

"Are you sure, Sasuke? Are you sure this is what you want?" Itachi asked me quietly as I felt him give my hips a little squeeze; his words belittling himself again, which I could not stand – I would not, could not, hear that kind of talk from someone so amazing and faultless any longer.

Before I answered him right away, I reached behind myself and seized his pulsating member in my hand; the act receiving a sharp hiss of air from my brother as I imagined he had not been expecting that; and angled the glistening tip at my raised, poised entrance.

"I'll always want you, Itachi," I said with more depth to my words than I had probably ever previously used with him…right before I lowered my ass and felt the thick head of Itachi's cock slowly push through my tight, wet entrance and immediately stretch me wide around his length. My body shivered while I continued to gingerly impale myself upon his solid, hot cock until I was completely seated on top of his thighs - my moans directed to the ceiling the entire time.

Itachi's sweet groans matched my own, filling our bedroom, as he had gradually increased the strength of his hold on me until he was completely inside of me. I relaxed a bit more once he was, and I felt his hands smoothly travel from the sides of my waist to the small of my back so I effectively had something to lean back against as I delicately started to rock my hips against his own.

Looking down on him as I was, I could not help but be in a state of awe as I watched Itachi squeeze his precious lips together before parting them and moaning in blissful ecstasy as I leisurely rode him with only slow but talented rotations of my hips that made his huge cock glide in and out of my entrance at a delicious pace.

Itachi's striking face was twisted in insanity-sparking pleasure, making him look even more stunning than he already was, as he slid his hands up my back, making me tip forward so I may lie on top of him again; his knees instantly bending up for leverage so he may take control of this situation and render me ideally helpless.

My legs were spread wider by his knees and I felt Itachi's masterful hands tightly grip the backs of my shoulders as he kept his arms possessively around me as he started to violently thrust his hips up, slamming his rigid cock into me as I screamed and moaned on top of him; captive in his embrace and totally in love with everything about it.

"Ohh… God…'tachi…mmh…!" I moaned endlessly; my foregone mind unable to keep up with the immense pleasure Itachi was inflicting upon me as I could only cling to his large shoulders and let him make brazen, unabashed love to me at last.

Then, Itachi said something that put the finishing touches on rendering me the aforementioned shivering pile of Uchiha mush, as it was incredibly sexy as it finally showed me his confidence.

"Say my name again, Sasuke…right now," Itachi cooed into my ear as he gave my ass another brutal squeeze while he continued pounding his large member into it, still making me moan for him loudly as I braced myself and relished in how I could feel every mouth-watering inch of him touch deep inside me and bring shattering pleasure to us both.

"…mmf...Itachi…" I began to moan but turned into a whimper near the end as I felt Itachi give me one, last particularly sharp thrust before stopping completely.

"Turn around," he instructed in that no-nonsense timber voice of his that made me move in the next moment, already feeling excitement chills run their course over my bare spine as I obeyed.

As I pulled myself off of Itachi's dripping, solid length and turned around in his lap, to face away from him, I felt Itachi sit up behind me and part his bent legs a little farther.

Itachi's hands were all over my every curve and muscle as I placed one hand on each of his thighs so I had a basic idea where I should place my ass next; his fingers playing the role of his eyes so he may be able to 'see' exactly where I was and how, which only made me purr in appreciation of his sensitive petting and feel my own begging cock drip with urgent need for the same kind of attention.

Suddenly, his arms were around me, his hands pressing firmly against the insides of my spread thighs as I felt him pull me closer and closer to him until his cock was easily slipping back inside of me again – my back slowly arching this time as I moaned his name and squeezed the tops of his legs with my fingers on either side of me.

Itachi's magnificent hips scooped up and into mine, making me see brilliant stars and shapes every time he did so as I felt the head of his cock rub and play with my prostate over and over again – my body positively melting against his as he held fast onto my trembling thighs and sensually licked and nipped at the side of my neck.

His tongue against my neck was amazing, his cock assaulting my prostate was mind-blowing, and I could not help but lift up my arms and reach back until I felt my hands rake back through his long, raven's wing-colored hair so I may keep his head where it was and encourage him to continue everything he was doing to me.

"Don't stop…ahh…'tachi, don't s-stop…" I panted mindlessly, my hands still desperately tugging at his hair while I felt my own cock drip again – every sensation being rushed through me collecting sinfully, wonderfully at my groin; just begging for me to climax and feel that instant state of unbelievable bliss with him.

"…never…Sasuke," Itachi assured me, growling the words into my shoulder before he bit down hard and thrusting in ever harder – the act reflexively making me jump a little in his lap and swoon back down to earth as he continued.

Just as the thought registered that I was about at my limit and would be coming soon, Itachi moved his hands from my thighs to my cock – one taking a firm hold of it at its base while the other dipped lower and felt where he and I connected; his fingers feeling both his own hot, hard flesh and my stretched opening in which he was thrusting.

My head tipped back against his shoulder as I moaned to the depths of the room again; Itachi's one hand pumping me furiously was quickly becoming too much for me as I felt my muscles start to tighten and convulse so I would come in the next second.

"Oh fuck…'tachi, I'm going to…ahhh!!" I practically hollered to my older brother as I relentlessly squeezed his large, intruding member inside my ass while coming in long, jagged streams of my pearly seed that covered Itachi's stroking fingers and made artistic-looking lines across the bedsheets.

"Mmm…Sasuke…I love you…so much …"he purred while I shivered in his arms, already feeling his cock swell inside of me until the overwhelming sensation of his hot, silky essence positively burned through me like addictive, extraordinary wildfire; filling me up completely and making my own cock spurt a little more come in the process of how startlingly sexy it was.

Body and soul feeling more satisfied than they had in my entire life, our panting began to even out as I let Itachi ride out his orgasm with a few weaker thrusts, before relaxing back against his solid, heaving chest – every fiber of my being was telling me softly but sternly of how complete and whole I truly was now.

As it was now with me leaning against my brother with his cock still inside of me, I felt infinitely happy…for possibly the first time ever, and I could not stop from smiling to myself within Itachi's warm, loose embrace as we both just enjoyed the tranquility and mindlessness that is often begotten after powerful, meaningful sex with someone special.

All of my previous problems, all of my horrid strife that had been mercilessly present in every aspect of my every day…none of that, none of it at all even mattered to me anymore. None it existed…none of it couldn't exist – not with Itachi and me as we were; not after we had just done and how inexplicably closer to something awesome it had made me feel.

I felt…reborn, renewed…revitalized…or maybe, finally awake.

Not yet wanting us to be disconnected, I simply craned my head to the side so I may look up at his lovely, similar face and I delighted in seeing how Itachi's dampened bangs were awkwardly stuck to his brow and cheeks from our lovemaking.

It was handsome in a rustled, 'I've-just-been-through-something' sort of way, and I had to stop myself just smothering his face with kisses and affection.

"Itachi…" I called softly in a very 'little brother' way; just wanting him to have to respond back to me before I continued.

"Yeah?" Itachi answered back, his voice kept just as soft and sweet as mine as we still remained intimately and physically close – my tired hand delicately coming up and swiping a few of his bangs away from his eyes before I went on.

I watched as Itachi closed his colorless eyes and leaned into my gentle touch as I tended to his long, dripping bangs, while I said simply, "I feel…happy."

Itachi's lips curved into a smile as he gave his head the tiniest tilt to the side to accommodate my continued dealings with his unruly hair.

"Me too, Sasuke," he whispered affectionately as he nuzzled his face into my hand a bit, and I swear I felt my heart drop a little with pure, crystal-clear devotion to him once again.

"You know I need you, right?" I suddenly blurted out; making him open his eyes and steady his jaw at once – his face showing his subtle but checked confusion at such an ambiguous statement from me.

For reasons possibly too bit for me to clearly identify; like that of how invigorated and miraculously honest I wanted to be with him now; I continued my thoughts while dropping my hand from his face, "I mean…you're the only person I was ever truly close with before…so…us being together now, I just know that…I…need you more than ever. I think I…need you by my side always."

It made sense to my overworked and under-functioning brain, and I prayed that my brother would also catch onto what I was really trying to say to him – my words really about how I have always loved him, and would continue to love him still, if not even more so.

To my surprise, Itachi's previous seriousness gave way as his lips melted into a small smile and the tension in his brow visibly relaxed while he mindfully retracted his arms from around me and began to carefully lie down on the bed.

"Come here," he instructed warmly, his arms lifting up a little to tell me that he wanted me there.

I smiled at the offer, as well as the too-endearing sight of my brother reaching out to me as he was, before I gingerly lifted myself off of him and then crawled to be by his side and inside the comforting, safe circle his strong arms provided for me.

I immediately felt better – just lying down next to him with his arms around me was as good as any medicine I had ever known, and I sighed contently as I buried my face against his chest a little more.

"Foolish little brother…you have no idea how happy you make me," Itachi commented adoringly from above my tucked-under head, "I could not have asked for anyone better to spend my life with."

This made me raise my head in a flash and look at my brother directly, my own face looking like I was going to say something though I currently was unable to find any words to my brother's sudden confession, as well as from that one, specific phrase that instantly made me think of our complicated, but precious past.

He had agreed to my request, without any hesitation, my Itachi had agreed to stay by my side for the rest of our days…and he had said _that_ line to me – it was overwhelming; I wanted to cry though I was wholly overjoyed and feeling more than moved by my older brother's bittersweet, nostalgic remembrance of our better times together years ago…something so weighty yet tender on my heart that I thought I was going to lose consciousness for a moment.

Knowing that I was merely looking at him and remaining silent, Itachi smiled again before saying a heartfelt and almost lonely sounding, "I love you."

My lips touched his, eager to kiss him but still trying to remain tender and gentle in their ministrations, just like this moment between us, as I whispered, "I love you too, Itachi. I'll always just want you. You…saved me."

Ironic, really – a paradox in some respects.

Only one week ago, it had been I who had physically saved my older brother from dying on that bloody battlefield that horrible, life-changing day.

…but it was ever since that day…that Itachi had been the one saving me.

A poetic justice this time, perhaps, about us; two brothers; and how we meant the other's utter salvation.

"I'll always save you, Sasuke," Itachi commented sleepily, letting me know that he was probably a second away from dozing off while holding me tightly; the pleasant realization prompting me to tuck my head back under his chin again and curl up against him a little bit more as I smiled at his exhausted but adorably touching words; "…that's what big brothers are for."

_Author's Note__:_ Shameless fluff, no? I can't help it. Also, I may have…like…been drinking when I wrote this, so I apologize now. Hmm…hopefully it wasn't too much of a sloppy mess, yes? XD At any rate, be sure to tell me what you think, if you please. Thanks, readers!!!


	5. Chapter 5

"_But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."_ –Isaiah 53:5-6 [The Suffering Servant]

Chapter Five

…_a poetic justice this time, perhaps, about us; two brothers; and how we meant the other's utter salvation. _

_**Itachi's POV**_

I gradually woke up some hours later and could right away notice this objective difference within myself; almost like it was a physical, tangible thing that was different about me.

It was odd as it was staggering in distinction, but it was also comforting.

I felt lighter.

My unseeing eyes opened, and I felt refreshed; a completely different person than who I was before entering this warm bed I was currently in. The bed was warm indeed, and I felt warm…warm and happy and peaceful, with Sasuke still in the same spot that I remember him crawling to – by my side, facing me, with his button-nose buried cutely in my chest.

My little brother's hand was lightly resting on my arm while his other one was up by his angelic, sleeping face; quiet puffs of air were steadily hitting my chest as he continued to sleep and dream in my arms.

I hoped he was dreaming of something wonderful.

I took a deep breath, cleansing my soul, and realized something very valuable in this serene instant. I have been meditating for years – always feeling like I have had to in order to regain any lost composure during all my hardships and cruel nights where I was sure I had forfeited another precious amount of my sanity – but this…what Sasuke and I had just done was more beneficial to me and my state of mind than any of those sessions I had endured thus far.

I felt like a fool, and the thought made me smile.

This was the reason for my newly-found contentment with the entire world everything in it that I had woken up to – I felt this amazing relaxation I had never attained before because of Sasuke and I being together as we had.

Our bedroom had a quaint smell of brisk night-time air and some sort of flower, leading me to believe that it was, in fact still the evening of the same day, and that we had left one of the windows open.

I could just barely feel the slight chill of the passing outside air hit my exposed skin, but it was enough to make me decide to get out of bed and close the window – my mind already processing the information about how the window was, thankfully, on my side of the room and a little to my left.

Turning my senses back to the precious form sleeping with me, I carefully started to retract my arms from around Sasuke; the move causing him to stir ever-so slightly.

It would only figure that Sasuke was a light sleeper; able to wake up fully alert by the tiniest of shifts in the room's balanced atmosphere; as any skilled ninja is trained, but I was determined to follow through with this task, and besides…

…I was starving.

Now having my hands free again, I mindfully scooted backwards and away from Sasuke as I tried not to move the bed covers around too much while attempting to get up as stealthily as I could despite the many things currently working against me – Sasuke's apparent easy arousal, how insatiably hungry I was, and how progressively chilly I was becoming due to my being awake and aware of the freezing air now filling our room.

Finally, I was far enough away from Sasuke that I could tell was my edge of the bed, so I eased back the covers that had previously been mostly on top of me before standing up and executing a little stretch of my stiff arms and back.

Still completely naked and, no doubt, with my hair looking like an utter disaster, I soundlessly stepped around the armchairs that were next to my side of the bed before reaching my target, the opened window.

…'squeak'….'CLICK!'

The damned window was frightfully noisy as I closed it then locked it in place, my lip curling in annoyance that after all my hard work of exiting the bed; I was to be found out by this merciless thing.

From behind me, I heard the soft ruffling of bedcovers before…

"...hmm...'tachi?" Sasuke's sleepy voice sounded, practically dove-like in how impossibly cute and soft the syllables were to my ears.

"Right here," I said lowly back as I turned around to face my awakening younger brother, "I was just closing the window."

"Hn," he said, still tired by the sound of it as he gave the roof of his mouth a few, moisturizing licks so he may have a firmer voice with which to speak, "What time is it?"

I rolled my eyes at the question, but decided to humor him.

"I'm not sure. I know it's evening, though," I light-heartedly replied back, waiting for my darling Sasuke to realize that he had just asked a blind person for the time…that foolish little brother of mine.

"Oh," he said, obviously catching back up with reality as I heard him sit up in bed and stretch out a little, "…yeah, I guess it would be. Uh…sorry about that."

"Forget it," I said almost cheerfully with a wave of my hand…right when my stomach started rumbling loudly for possibly everyone within a twelve-mile radius to hear.

This made us both snicker, an uplifting, airy chuckle between the two of us at how ridiculous that just sounded right now.

"Hungry?" Sasuke asked on purpose with another little chuckle, something that made me blush a bit.

Suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable with how unnaturally non-threatening any of this was to me, I nervously swept a hand through my messy hair; just sort of playing with the long, unkempt strands; as I said, "Yeah…yeah, I guess I am. Are you?"

"I suppose I could eat, but you know…" Sasuke said, his tone turning from completely innocently to anything but in just a matter of seconds as he continued, "…let's make a deal."

"A deal? We're going to make a deal about our food?" I asked with a laugh, not seeing where my brother was going with this.

As I heard Sasuke shift on the bed a little in order to face me while still lying on his back, he clarified with that same, lustful tone being more evident in his honeyed voice, "The deal is this: make love to me again, and I'll make you whatever you want for dinner."

I pretended to think this over, just for his sake, despite how it was hardly necessary –any idiot could tell that this was a blatant win-win situation for me, and Sasuke's purposeful sultry tone was making this little 'deal' seem all the better.

"Hmm…" I mocked, just to make him pout in that maddeningly adorable way that I just knew he was doing at me, "you've got a deal…little…baby…brother."

The last of my words were spoken as I slowly, predatorily crawled back onto the bed and onto Sasuke's waiting form; his voice having already told me exactly where he was.

A man could not ask for more, I dare say, and the sex-driven haze was already working its illustrious magic on all my senses and functions of judgment for the second time today.

I forgot about my hunger, dismissed the fact that we had just had sex maybe three hours ago – thoughts of that reprimanding sort were easily set aside while I tended to my brother, my Sasuke whose body was still warm and tempting beneath my own as I devilishly began to run the flat of my tongue along his lower abdomen.

Sasuke squirmed charmingly amongst the disheveled sheets, my 'plan of attack' as clear as day in my mind, as I licked and lapped at the many, flat lines that adorned my brother's trim stomach – my hands supporting my weight from above him and I could feel my hair falling over my shoulders to also run over his body.

His soft, smooth skin tasted of salty-sweet wine, like some of kind of black cherry, and it made my taste-buds sing; I could not get enough of his delicate flesh; as I found a place right below his navel to suck and bite on so I may mark him.

Sasuke's tiny whimpers turned into beautiful, agonizing groans while I continued with my task of marking what was mine – the feeling of small, lovely hands in my hair making me purr against his sensitive flesh in the process.

When I was quite certain that he would be purple and red there for a week, I licked a trail upwards until I reached his well-built, firm chest that was to be subject to my every wish and whim.

I dropped down to be on my elbows instead of my hands and easily slipped an arm underneath the small of his back as I captured one of my brother's perfect nipples in my mouth – the tip of my tongue already roughly teasing it with quick flicks before I closed my lips around the tiny nub and gently sucked on it.

Sasuke arched his begging, panting body up into mine; my arm underneath his back supporting his move and pressing him even further into my much larger frame; as I administered another long, languid lick of my tongue to his tortured nipple – my mouth quickly seeking out the other one while Sasuke was still bowed over in my arms.

"Mmm…'tachi…ahh!" Sasuke groaned erotically to me before I released his other equally tortured nipple from my teeth; my arms lowering him so he may be fully lying on the bed once again before I attacked the side of his neck with my hungry, pleasure-seeking lips – his many whines and purrs from my ministrations to his body were like a drug going straight to my veins…I loved it.

My hands glided pathlessly, sensuously up and down my brother's lean frame; down his long, tattooed arms, up the sides of his well-muscled thighs, and across the dips in his positively delectable stomach and chest; all the while my mouth remained fixated on tasting ever inch that his slender, pulsing throat had to offer.

Sasuke shivered from my touches that seemed to go all over his sweating body but moaned and squeezed at my shoulders as I viciously nipped and sucked along his neck and collarbone; me being intent on leaving many more claiming marks on my sexy little brother.

As I brutally sucked on one particular spot on Sasuke's collarbone, Sasuke reciprocally dug his fingernails into my shoulders and arched his body again – this time, gasping my name in his ecstasy while I felt his solid, pulsating erection rub into my lower abdomen as he did so.

"Please, Itachi…"Sasuke whined impatiently, an act which I quickly assessed only served to further fuel my unquenchable desire to make love to him until the bed broke, "…please…I can't take it anymore."

"Hmm…so needy," I commented playfully as I moved my lips from his saliva-slick throat to his ear which I kissed softly as I listened to his heavy breathing through his parted lips that I knew I needed to have.

My lips swept across his cheek adoringly, forever cherishing his incomparable perfection and beauty, like brushing flower petals against silk until I crushed our lips together; my actions immediately being rewarded by Sasuke throwing his arms around my neck and moaning deeply into my mouth.

I swallowed his sensual moans, delighting in them always, and consequently freed a hand; mercilessly plunging two of my fingers inside of his entrance at once; dry and fast.

My little brother squirmed and trembled in my arms, a sort of strangled groan escaping his occupied lips, as I did not wait for him to adjust to my intrusion before adding a third finger into him; my palm languidly rubbing against the underside of Sasuke's cock as I moved my fingers in and out of his entrance.

Breaking our kiss but just barely, I cooed to him, "You're still so wet...Sasuke."

This made him shiver once more as my adorable brother scratched his blunt nails down both of my shoulder blades and stammered a version of my name from in between clenched teeth and unsteady groans from his throat.

Sasuke did not need much stretching, as his muscles were still quite lax and in no need of lubrication, from our first time together, and my fingers were able to move in and out of him as I pleased without problem or resistance whatsoever – his texture was amazing and about had me at my limit already just by touching where I wanted my throbbing cock to be so badly.

He, in turn, was impossibly hard for me and I could not help but strain for him as well, as I felt his soft, moist insides with my fingers – every inch of me able to feel it when he squeezed around my digits, shivered and relaxed…all this information about how Sasuke was melting underneath me was pooling straight to my groin and sending my senses into overdrive.

Knowing that I was dangerously close to just ravishing him without any heed as to how he would fare in the process, I tore my fingers away from him and easily slipped my aching body in between his parted legs – Sasuke already reaching out and taking hold of my shoulders for support.

Like two, unstable matters in the universe, Sasuke and I sweetly melted into one another as I sank down even lower so we could be pressed flush against each other as Sasuke slid his hands the rest of the way around my back and held me in a tight, demanding embrace – my own hands moving down to my brother's thighs for leverage and balance.

Our faces were so close at this moment, our noses were lightly touching and breath mixing, as Sasuke whispered delicately but deliciously, "Make love to me, Itachi."

I pressed my lips to his once more before whispering back, "Take a deep breath."

Sasuke did as I instructed, and I started to carefully ease my large, throbbing cock inside his sopping, waiting entrance – an extra push was necessary to get the thick, wide head in first before I could be a bit gentler in proceeding the rest of the way.

The air that Sasuke had initially had been holding in his lungs was quickly sighed out as he arched and moaned to the heavens; a most angelic sound to my ears as I felt him grip at my back with his hands and squeeze me even tighter with his strong legs around my waist.

"Are you okay?" I asked, needing to hear that he was before I did anything else; I would not stand for it if I was hurting him.

Much to my relief and gratitude, I felt a kiss to my cheek and a quick swipe of my bangs from my eyes before Sasuke replied, "Yeah, just…go slow."

I obeyed my precious brother without question as I thoughtfully began to retract my pulsating member from my brother's warm, supple ass before easing the whole thing back in again. Over and over, I maintained our lovemaking at this steady, unhurried pace; making Sasuke writhe in the bed; sensuously cooing and moaning my name as I felt him arch his lithe, addictive body up into my own as I proceeded in driving us both into a mindless, exhilarating oblivion.

I only picked up my pace a little bit once I started to feel Sasuke's clinging to me grow more desperate and imperative, his whines more frequent – my own body begging me relentlessly to make love to him harder, to completely indulge myself until I made him cry with ecstasy...

…it was maddening as it was breathtaking.

"Ahh…faster…please, 'tachi…!" my darling baby brother finally said to me at last, putting away my slight mental discord to rest immediately as I wasting no time before getting a firmer grip on those magnificent legs of his and hoisting them up higher.

With Sasuke's back bent over more, I was able to straighten out upright and have complete control over him, which was instantaneously used to my advantage as I began to thrust brutally hard into his dripping, quivering ass – fully intent on making him scream for me while in the throes of his passion.

Hands left my body when I had sat up and I instead heard him clutching forcefully to the sheets and to the mattress itself as I angled my thrusts a touch to the left and then heard him loudly moan my name in extended, legato syllables.

Right there.

Like a madman on a mission, I pounded into that spot, relishing in hearing my brother's moans topple over one and other and end up becoming a mangled mess, and I could not help but groan and sigh my own pleasure from having him so willingly and lovingly adhere to my every sexual urge.

My hands supported his back as I kept his ass off of the bed and against my own heated flesh as I practically just manipulated his body as I saw fit to make myself feel good – every movement was angled in such a way that it made his scalding hot entrance rub and grind over my begging member in just the right way to make my mouth run dry as I moaned and panted his name over and over again.

"…so good…mmn, 'tachi…ahh..!" Sasuke tried to say coherently, though it only came out as breathless murmurs spiked by candy-sweet, sexual moans, "…I'm so close…"

His words were like expedients to my already overloading pleasure; I felt every one of them tug ruthlessly at my cock as I continued grinding my hips into his to feel as deep inside of him as I possibly could.

"Come with me," I purred down to him, knowing that I was teetering on my own personal edge as well; Sasuke's muscles were clamping and fluttering around my pulsating cock in the most mind-blowing of ways and I could feel my every fiber telling me that I could orgasm at any second as a result.

Though I could not see it, I could tell that, upon hearing my words, Sasuke's hands flew to his own member and began to stroke himself just as passionately and fervently as my now frantic thrusts inside him were – his actions making him tighten even more around my tensing cock, his voice louder inside our bedroom, and the slight, resulting motion completely pushing me way past that aforementioned edge of mine.

"Fuck…Sasuke…nng," I practically sang as I arched my back and delivered sharp, violent thrusts into his trembling entrance while I squeezed desperately at his supple, firm ass in my cupped hands; my cock swelling briefly inside him as I came in soul-shattering waves of pure, undaunted euphoria over and over again via my last thrusts into him.

My words were quickly followed by Sasuke's crescendo-ed scream of my name that seemed to drown out everything else in this room, in the world, while I filled him with my essence and he, in turn, came in long, warm arcs of thick fluid all over our stomachs and chests – my heart beat was astoundingly fast throughout all of this, but had sped up momentarily on account of finally hearing my brother scream my name as I had wanted him to since the beginning; my cock leaking a bit more come inside of him consequently.

Breathing evening out between us, I kept my head craned back; just resting at the nape while I blankly stared at the ceiling and just not moved for a blissful, hard-earned moment; and I could swear without a single shred of uncertainty that I was truly grateful to be alive right now…to have lived through everything that I had, if even just for this one point in time.

Carefully, I lowered Sasuke's legs down onto the bed; detaching myself from him in the process; and then, basically, just collapsed on top of him – my sated and totally satisfied body, worn out in the best possible way, colliding with his own as I landed on top of him.

I know the move was not nearly enough to hurt him, and I was proven right as Sasuke was quick to throw his equally exhausted arms around me to hold me close; the side of my face resting comfortably on his upper chest as I only focused on listening to the reassuring sounds of his heart beat.

"That was…"Sasuke started evenly before evidently taking in some contemplative air through his nostrils and then peacefully sighing it out; making my head rise and fall on his chest from such a movement, "amazing, Itachi."

I weakly smiled and closed my eyes, completely welcoming the idea of drifting back into a calm, serene sleep with Sasuke so close by me…that was, until…

….'rumble-rumble'…'ggggrowl'…

I sighed, embarrassed, as Sasuke only chuckled lightly at the sound and connotation of my empty stomach making noise between us again.

"We had a deal, right? So tell me; what are you hungry for?" Sasuke said with a smile and another small squeeze to my back as I still just lay boneless on top of him…probably smothering him a little bit, but I just could not will myself to move away from him just yet– I was far too happy being where and how I was.

I licked my dry lips, thinking the question over in my mind for a second before the answer practically lit up like light bulb to me, and I replied back quickly, "Chicken teriyaki, seaweed miso soup, and plain, sticky rice…please."

Silence.

Then, both of us just burst into this melodic laughter at how eager my answer sounded; like that of a enthusiastic, hyper child being told he could have anything he wanted just this once; the very moment pleasantly reminding me that, while our sex had made me realize that I was glad to be alive, these kinds of moments with my brother meant that miracles actually can happen, even to someone like me.

I would not trade it for anything.

A little, chaste kiss was placed on the top of my head, followed by Sasuke saying, "I'll get right on it."

X

"Really? You're not just saying that?" Sasuke asked for the third time, his tone that of flattery and I knew that he just wanted it to continue, not that I minded in the least – I loved to hear Sasuke sound so happy and carefree.

…it made me feel like I was finally doing something right and worthwhile.

"Oh, I'm being very serious. Everything really is excellent, Sasuke," I informed him positively once again over our meal, taking another bite of the delicious, well-cooked chicken that my brother had made exactly to my liking.

We had been eating for a little while, Sasuke having proven to be extremely effective as well as efficient in the kitchen; as the dinner had been prepared in no time; and now we were just enjoying the other's company at the table while we finished.

We had already exchanged stories, asked more random questions to each other as per our dinner-time game, and even told some jokes. I was delighted at every twist and turn about my brother and just how much of a joy to have in life he really was.

One joke in particular about had me done in, which is not an easy thing to do.

Sasuke had asked, setting up his joke, _"What did one village idiot say to the other village idiot?"_

Perplexed, I had had no clue…I could only have guessed, but I had wanted to hear my brother's punchline straight away.

"_I don't know,"_ I had replied back with an expectant smile.

"'_Why are we in Konoha?'"_ he had finished.

In the most ungraceful manner, I had choked on my food and had needed extra tea to help get it all down from laughing so hard.

For a second, I almost wished that this kind of shared moment with my brother would never end, and we could just talk to each other like this for the rest of time. It was so untroubled and affectionate; refreshingly light-hearted and cheerful; and I treasured how comfortable Sasuke could truly be around me as we held these kinds of conversations and experienced times of open, honest laughter with one another.

"I suppose," Sasuke said modestly around a smile that I knew he had; bringing me back to the present; "so…are you about done?"

I was getting full, and fast; as I had already eaten nearly all of my chicken, most of my rice, and every last drop of the soup; so I said after I cleared my throat, "Yes, I'm about done. Again, thank you for the meal; it was…r-really…really…um…"

I trailed off, unable to think clearly due to the sudden onslaught of a vicious headache that was making me see all kinds of strange colors and shapes amidst the ever-present darkness of my vision – my brain feeling like it was ripping itself in half, right down the middle.

The pain was excruciating, and I spilled my half-full cup of cooled-down tea onto the large, wooden table as I hurriedly raised my hands and clutched the sides of my aching head to try to deal with it; my teeth grit as my fingers wound themselves in my own hair as I tried not to panic.

Such pain was eerily giving way to a senseless, unstoppable confusion that was, no doubt, induced by some kind of drug that had been placed in the meal, and it was making me feel completely disoriented and fatigued at an astounding pace – my body limply toppling out of my chair and onto the hard floors below with a solid 'thud.'

No words could even form themselves in my mind as I lay on the floor like a helpless, tossed ragdoll, as it was like my mind and body had somehow been separated in how I could no longer sense anything nor think about anything…almost like I had just died and was now only an apparition.

However, despite my current mindless, unresponsive state, my sensitive but rapidly failing ears picked up the mashed-up words of my brother saying to me from above, _"…sorry, Itachi…but, I just couldn't have you saying 'no' to me...ruining…plan…"_

That was the last, pitiful-sounding words I heard, the last semi-coherent thing my senses could pick up, before I lost all consciousness – everything having happened far too quickly for even my keen processing…to wonder why…and what happened to that joy I had been holding onto.

What…went wrong?

I was instantly filled with questions, too many about betrayal and motives and mindsets and tricks and sorrow and pain…but could not voice any one of them, as it were.

_Author's Note_: fufufu. I know. I know what I just did to all of you. D Stick around for a little shock-ie coming up, yes? I'd sure appreciate a comment and such. XD Thanks, readers!!!


	6. Chapter 6

"_He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth."_- Isaiah 53:7-9 [The Suffering Servant]

Chapter Six

_I was instantly filled with questions, too many about betrayal and motives and mindsets and tricks and sorrow and pain…but could not voice any one of them, as it were. _

X

_**Third Person POV**_

Three days earlier…

"Yes, that was what happened;" a mysterious and unusual dual-talking man with half of his face white, the other black, reported dutifully to another cloaked in the same notorious black, cloud-designed robes as he was, "The younger Uchiha succeeded in taking Itachi with him at the end of their battle. We saw the whole thing."

The second man, leaner in stature whose face was hidden away by an odd-looking orange mask with only one eyehole, turned over this new, tactic-changing information in his demented but brilliant mind for a moment before replying to his loyal and equally insane comrade

"Hmm, I see…" the second man replied simply to his plant-like brother-in-arms with a sort of conspiring dryness in his voice that left the other a bit puzzled as to the connotation.

A single glowing, fiery red eye from behind the disturbing orange mask turned to look directly at his comrade's striking, bright yellow eyes before he continued more firmly than before, "I have my task, then. I'll be back, Zetsu…after I'm done _hunting_."

"Understood," the twin-colored man replied before taking his leave of his much older and much more secretive Akatsuki counterpart that he honestly did not know too much about.

Now alone in the plainly but tastefully furnished common room of the expansive facility, the mask-wearing man turned his attention towards the nearby fireplace that was roaring away with healthy flames that licked up the thin, black iron bars that formed the surrounding gate– the vibrant glow casting an eerie, unsettling effect on his seemingly unmovable appearance and ominous mask that made his short, black spikes of hair dart this way and that.

"Sweet, sweet Itachi…"the man melodically said aloud to no one but himself as he only voiced a subtle portion of all the twisted ideas that he was currently indulging himself in as he contemplated his ex-Akatsuki member and fellow Uchiha, "…my idiotic, sweet Itachi."

X

Present time.

"Oh man, okay…"Sasuke verbally stated aloud to try to ward off his unsettlement and dire nervousness as he knew that any moment his older brother was to wake up from his drug-induced slumber, "…just keep it together and explain things clearly to him. Be patient, and…I hope he doesn't get mad at me…"

Sasuke continued to endlessly shift around on his feet as he stood over his brother that was currently lying on a metal operating table in one of the basement's medical rooms that Orochimaru had always kept in prime condition for his subjects. The younger Uchiha's mind was on a crazed overdrive as Sasuke was positively torturing himself with the many different strategies he could use to talk to his brother, not knowing which one was better than the other in terms of still maintaining their close, loving relationship when this was all over.

"Everything went smoothly, so there's no need to worry," Sasuke practiced to himself quietly, intent on saying something of that same nature to his brother once the latter did, in fact, wake up and realize what Sasuke had done.

Sasuke tipped his head over to a side, making his aching neck crack in the process; his brows knit together in worry and anxiety; as he continued to take deep breaths in through his nose so he could try to keep his racing blood pressure somewhat under control as the anticipation, and everything else that goes along with it, was positively eating him alive.

Plus…it was hard enough to see Itachi just lying there, unmoving and unresponsive, for so long to the younger Uchiha who was incessantly telling himself that everything was okay and that he had done nothing wrong.

"Everything really did go well, and recovery time should be…"Sasuke started his practice monologue once more, but stopped his words cold on account of seeing Itachi slowly waking up; catching his undivided attention, "…he's awake now."

X

_**Itachi's POV**_

Pain; nothing like what I had experienced briefly before losing consciousness, but still a dull throbbing in my head that was enough to greatly discomfort me and make my neck and shoulders feel tense as well – the first thing I noticed upon coming around.

My throat swallowed down some spit as a reflex to my mouth being overly dry, but I still needed water badly.

My brows furrowed together from all of my pains and problems trying to collect together to form one, overall feeling of agony as I gingerly sat up from what I quickly assessed had to be some kind of medical table by the cold, metallic smell and feel of it.

I eased my black-panted legs over the sides of the uncomfortable table and leaned forward so my elbows were resting on the tops of my thighs – my hands slowly coming up to cradle my hurting head and to try to find some kind of relief.

My fingers pulled my long bangs away from my face as my chin rested against my palms while I took a deep breath so I may begin to piece back together…anything; something.

"Itachi…?"Sasuke asked shyly from somewhere behind me – the sound not startling me in the least bit as I did not move a muscle to the call of my name…my uneasy body and mind feeling unable to show that kind of response at the moment while I continued to keep my face in my hands, like one who is penitent and in desperate need of forgiveness.

…but I was not the one who needed forgiving this time.

With that thought striking my mind like a bell being rung for the first, crystal clear time, I slowly opened my eyes.

…and…_saw_…my hands.

I could see my hands?!

I could blatantly see the small, subtle lines that criss-crossed over my palms from having them so close to my face and I was instantly…frightened.

I tore my hands away from my face and jumped up from the table and onto my bare feet, whipping around at once so I may face my brother at last.

My already widened eyes…could not believe what they were seeing, and I knew that my mouth was hanging open in complete shock from such a development – my mind not totally able to catch up with everything just yet as I stared hard at my younger brother.

With a worried smile tugging at his precious lips, Sasuke took a tiny step towards me, but it went wholly unnoticed by me as I could only stare disbelievingly at the slim white string that was strung around my brother's black, spiky head only once and at a catty-cornered angle, to keep the patterned square of white gauze pressed securely to his left eye.

"What…I don't…"I just said mindlessly, not even truly being aware that I was even speaking as I watched my brother carefully approach me; his hands at the ready while he slowly closed the distance between us.

Finally snapping out of my taken aback reverie, I curtly shook my head to clear my hazed senses and then took a defensive step backwards; my hand shooting up warningly as I lowered my eyes to the ground as I said, "Stop…just…don't come any closer. Sasuke…what…the hell…"

"I'm going to explain everything, okay?" Sasuke said gently…too gently, it was making me all the more nervous rather than the opposite as I refused to look at him at the moment and instead was casting quick glances to everything else in the large, highly unsettling room.

Thin, plastic curtains were strung up here and there to separate some of the other tables from each other, medical equipment was everywhere, and right by the table I had just gotten up from was a shallow, metal tray with numerous, surgical tools, bloody bandages, and containers of what appeared to be water and blood mixed together.

I swallowed hard as I could not take my newly-received vision from these things, my ears slightly half-hearing Sasuke still inching closer to me as he kept his hands up to show of his non-violent intentions.

"Tell me…what happened…right now," I ordered; my words cruel and stern and I briefly recalled that that was how our father used to speak to us when he used to punish us; while I also took note of how I could not allow myself to say his name right now.

Sasuke licked around his mouth before answering me.

"I…put a tranquilizer in your food. I knew you would have turned me down if I posed this idea to you, so I just…" Sasuke confessed way too fast, which prompted me to interject so I may only hear what I absolutely needed to hear from him.

"What…'idea?'" I asked coldly, my narrowed eyes slowly starting to rise up from nothing in particular to see his face once again.

"To…"Sasuke began but halted so he could let out a defeated-sounding sigh, followed by a much calmer, "…to…give you one of my eyes."

My breathing was heavy and measured through my nose. I wanted to throw up. I wanted this all to be some kind of terrible dream…but it wasn't, and I still had to face my brother's troubled expression bearing right into me.

Grimacing like I had just received a blow, I gingerly raised my chin and looked my younger brother squarely in his face – my now white and black eyes showing that of my crippling anguish while my brother's one, visible black eye was obvious of his hopefulness of my approval and acceptance.

I could not.

I could not accept something like this so easily, and in a sudden burst of desperate anger, I rushed the remaining distance between us and roughly clutched onto both of his white clothed shoulders in my trembling hands; my bottom lip prey to my teeth at the moment as I did this.

Sasuke remained perfectly still as I gulped and then carefully freed one of my hands that I brought up to his lovely face. With the utmost care and concern, I took hold of the bottom of the gauze that decorated my brother's one eye socket, and lifted up the soft, small square of cotton so I could see for myself the severity of what Sasuke was telling me…if this really was true or not.

His eyelid was red and swollen shut with a small surgical incision going straight down the thin, sensitive flesh; tiny black stitches adorning the small slit and just looking mercilessly morbid to me.

"Itachi, I…" he began with a small voice, but stopped once I violently tore myself away from him to place my palms flat on top of the closest table so I may just lean over and take a few more, much needed deep breaths.

He had really done it; Sasuke had really removed his own eye…and that was how I was now able to see out of my left eye…because it was _his_.

I closed my mismatched-colored eyes and turned my lowered head away from him upon hearing him speak my name again…like it somehow brought me physical pain.

I had never been this upset before – just inconsolably upset with everything…it was too much. I had vowed to myself to never let Sasuke get hurt again, especially from my own doing – I loved him far too much and wanted to be with him as we had been for the rest of our days…unharmed, happy, safe.

That self-proclaimed covenant, to me, was completely shattered once I saw Sasuke's swollen, stitched, and empty eye socket, however…and could just feel it in my bones that it was entirely because of me. I knew that there was nothing I could have done to foresee something like this…but I still felt like I had let him down…and he had let me down in turn.

If not for me, Sasuke would have both his eyes right now, and would not have had to endure that kind of man-breaking pain associated with such a gruesome process that I strained my mind from wondering too much about.

I felt initial guilt for all of this, followed by a harsh riddling of stress and anxiety as my mind ruefully wrapped around the fact that Sasuke would also have that damned scar on his perfect face forever now. His vision would never be one hundred per cent any more, and it was…my fault…simply because I was here. I felt like I had marred something priceless and was just unmistakably at fault because of it…tiny portions of my reasoning also being ruthlessly unforgiving towards Sasuke for letting me fall so far from grace as I felt I had.

How could he have just…made this kind of decision on his own without even considering how I would have felt about it…how I really would have told him 'no' because I just did not want to see him get hurt on my behalf ever again.

If things came down to a choice of me being blind but Sasuke was okay, versus me having sight but Sasuke was in pain…I would choose the first alternative, always and without hesitation.

But now that was not even an option for me; now that this had already been done.

"I just wanted to help you," Sasuke tried; his words falling on deaf, unforgiving ears as I could not help but become even bitterer by the second, "I wanted you to…"

"How long was I out?" I cut him off, trying to fill in the blanks of the situation at any cost now as I could almost feel myself becoming colder to him and to the world.

"For about fourteen hours; the tranquilizer was pretty strong because I um…needed you to…not be able to feel any pain for awhile…" Sasuke responded downtrodden and sounding miserable as he continued to look my way with heavy, evident emotion present in his body language.

"You…deceived me, Sasuke," I affirmed, not entirely thinking it through what was coming out of my mouth, with a small nod of my head while I still glared daggers at the metal tabletop I was currently leaning heavily on, "I trusted you…I trusted you so fucking much, but…you…"

"I just wanted you to see me again, brother!" Sasuke cried out suddenly, the unexpected change in his demeanor and tone making me turn my head to look at him; the eye that was not my own clearly seeing the quiet tears streaming down one side of my brother's emotionally pained and frustrated face.

My heart clenched painfully inside my chest upon seeing him like so; so hurt and helpless yet pleading; as his words cut deep within my core…making me want to grip my stomach in pain, but also in substantial, consuming remorse and sorrow for my behavior and just for the circumstances themselves.

Still, how could he understand that I had placed above all else to me in this world…was his…Sasuke's safety…? That was it; that was all I cared about – his safety from harm and happiness no matter what. That being said, I could not help but truly feel like Sasuke had readily allowed me to fail by taking these actions into his own hands; everything sticking pins in me concerning betrayal, helplessness, failure…all of it.

How could he possibly understand that if my pain meant his happiness, I would gladly accept those terms?!

I was so confused despite now knowing what had happened, so, without even acknowledging the fact that I was barefoot, parched, and without my calve wrappings, I abruptly turned away from my subtly weeping brother and began unsteadily walking out of the room.

I felt lower than dirt and more than trapped while I remained as I was in these subterranean medical quarters – my moving out of there was absolutely necessary for me to cling onto what was left of my scorched soul and dissolving sanity.

"I…can't be in here anymore, "I stated lamely, just trying to offer some kind of plain explanation for my departure before I left the room completely, "I just…need to be outside for awhile."

From behind me, still inside the room, I heard Sasuke sniffle before calling out, "W-Wait!"

I did not wait.

This time, I could not follow that order from my dear younger brother – I needed to get out of that treacherous room that had housed my strife and into the fresh, cleansing air…so I just kept walking without too much regard for anything else.

Now being able to see, I sluggishly, uncaringly noticed the dark brown color and endlessly swirling patterns of the dim corridors and the hard, dirty stairs as I walked rather aimlessly. Taking another set of stairs that led up to the main floor where the bedrooms, dining hall, and training rooms were, I was able to guess my way to the brightly lit main entrance at last; the assuring view eclipsed only by the incline of the floor to lead smoothly out into the forest grounds – a little relief already finding me at the prospect of being alone with my thoughts and in my recently adopted favorite spot here…the roof.

I quickly raised a hand to shield my new, sensitive vision from the assaulting sunlight as I let the rich musk of nature fill my lungs, my aching soul, and already start to ease my deeply-ridden pain as I made my transition from the cool, dim and depressing lair to the nature beyond.

Large, tall trees of light brown were canopied by a mirage of different shades of green that were sprinkled by tiny dots of white from the above sunlight making it through the thick foliage and, like being in a slow-moving dream, I made a right from the main lair entrance so I may scale the side of the mostly underground facility until I reached the top.

Hard, grainy walls of grayish-white were cold underneath my dirtied feet as I focused my chakra to them and easily sprinted up the side of the protruding building; my pace not stopping until I reached the tallest point where I would sit down at last – my other senses already knowing that this was where I routinely meditated…and I needed something familiar from a happier moment in my life in which to be involved.

I sank down on top of the wind-chilled, coal-grey-shingled rooftop and lethargically crossed my legs and bent my body forwards – my intention was that of meditating, but it was this moment…that I broke down.

One, quick violent wind gust pushed through the leaves; ruffling my loose-fitting black shirt and long hair; as I kept my arms crossed over my chest while I sat…and cried. It hurt my eyes to cry as I was and I felt a particular sting as I did…my body unable to stop despite the minor discomfort as I finally just quietly let out how distraught I truly was about everything.

After only a moment, I slowly cracked open my downcast eyes and saw that my right eye had cried tears, while my left eye had cried blood – the two, different fluids spotting and running over the curve of my arm at the same time; marking my tanned flesh with two separate consistencies and colors.

I stared unhappily at the many dots of the clear and red fluid and swallowed down some of my impending fear, depressed with the fact that blood was what wept from Sasuke's eye in my head in this moment.

With a heavy heart, I wiped away the blood and tears from my arm with my opposite hand and sniffled a bit while I felt another breeze pick up and race past me; my eyes closing once it did as I straightened my back so I may begin with my meditation practices…and hopefully start feeling better soon.

As I was focusing all of my previously dulled and indifferent attention on relaxing individual muscles within my body so I could try to be at peace to as to proceed, I did not hear the unnatural ruffling of the leaves to my left, nor the slight creaking of a branch from up high.

Having received such a staggering, mind-altering blow from before, it was no wonder that by the time I realized that something was out of the ordinary, it was too late for me to react properly.

I had only managed to spring to my feet when I already had a hand tightly closed around my throat by a figure clothed completely in black standing in front of me.

"…finally caught you…Itachi," a murderous, velvet voice purred out amusedly at my expense while I choked as I initially struggled against him.

I opened my eyes once I relaxed against his frozen grip and my breath caught in my throat.

Wearing a midnight black bodysuit and gloves, with his ominous and strange orange mask pulled to one side of his head, I stared in the disturbing face of Madara Uchiha…and he stared right back at me with a lop-sided grin pulling his lips to a corner.

My own purple-painted fingers squeezed at the hand holding my throat as I spat venomously, "Madara, you…what the hell...ugh…do you want?!"

The devil's grin on his wicked face grew bigger at my words before he pulled me closer to him so we were only a hairsbreadth apart and he said, "I've already got it."

I trembled in his grasp and felt my air being mercilessly robbed of my systems, causing my head to start to feel light and my mouth to go numb. Nonetheless, I paid excruciating attention to what this man had to say to me and the manner in which he did…I could do no more at the moment as I felt myself already starting to black out.

Warm breath hit my skin before Madara brought me even closer to him and stuck out his tongue; the older Uchiha slowly licking up the line of blood from the left side of my face that ran from the bottom of my jaw to my eye.

With my eyes squeezed tight, I growled out, "You…bastard."

To my horror and futile rage, I heard Madara chuckle before commenting in the most diluted manner, "Nuh-uh; Tobi is a good boy...right?"

I knew I was just a second away from passing out, so I gathered up with was left of my fading, fatigued strength and delivered a swift strike to one side of his face, his orange mask flying off of his head and over the edge of the rooftops as a result.

Still smiling that horrid smile of his, Madara only turned his now bruised face back towards me like nothing had even happened at all, and said sickeningly cheerfully, "Now that wasn't very nice. I guess the prey is never very courteous to the predator after all."

"What? Prey…?" I asked breathlessly as I felt my senses fading in and out at a terrifying pace – Madara's hand finally releasing me from his grip since he now knew he had me right where he wanted me.

BAM!

I immediately doubled over and coughed up a little blood that splattered in a broken pattern across the roof shingles below, from Madara hitting me squarely underneath my ribs – my sternum thudding painfully against my heart in the process that made me wince and gasp for air.

However, that air that I needed did not come, and I saw the beautiful forest scenery around me that I loved and appreciated so much gently fade to black and then just disappear.

X

I awoke several hours later; freezing, impossibly hungry, and completely confused. My seemingly endlessly tired eyes slowly opened and only had the strength to remain half-lidded as I found out that my wrists and ankles were clamped down onto the chilly floor beneath me, which had me on my knees and bent forward like I was bowing to pay respects.

My hair pooled along the floor by my hands as I had to keep my head lowered; my shoulders positively on fire from such a straining position in which to be kept; and I only uncaringly blinked at my poor view of floor tiles and the bits of dirt in between them.

"You know, I like you this way, " a painstakingly familiar voice rang out suddenly yet calmly, catching my attention right away though I did not so much as twitch, "…it makes you look…humble, Itachi."

I did not reply. I had nothing to say.

I just did not care anymore.

My depression had thoroughly overtaken everything there was about me now; my second falling away from Sasuke clearly proving to be too detrimental to me; because not only was the fall itself painful enough, but it had only happened after it had been brought to the point of me valuing my own, tortured life again.

All of that had been beaten down, made a travesty, and then quite literally snatched away…so I just did not feel like I could be bothered anymore, just like someone who could barely move in his cage without a single thing to be hopeful about.

I stayed defiantly silent, as my mind was mapping out how I had to be in the lower, typically unused chambers of the Akatsuki hideout – 'typically unused' since members of the Akatsuki rarely, if ever, took any hostages after a mission; all involved just ending up dead one way or another.

"Oh, see now, that just won't do," Madara mocked in a anger-inducing sing-song voice as he walked up to my kneeling form and then promptly stomped his booted foot one, solid time on my defenseless fingers, "...you can't stay quiet forever."

Gritting my teeth, I hissed in pain and shut my eyes so I did not have to look at what was going on…my ring finger already feeling broken.

Obviously not satisfied with my lack of a proper noise in response to my hand being smashed, Madara violently took hold of a handful of my hair at the crown of my head and yanked my face up to look at him directly.

He was smiling this insane, toothy smile down at me; scaring me a bit; as he said, "Still an Uchiha to the very end, eh? Ha! That's what I've always admired about you…No, no…more like…loved."

I swallowed down the thick bile that had risen up in my throat as I saw his narrowed, red eye glint at me while he had spoken those words to my face – his other half of his face sort of covered by his fallen black spikes and shadows cast from the unforgiving lighting.

The room I was in was more lavishly furnished than it should have been, with a fireplace in the opposite corner, tables and chairs, paintings on the ash-colored stone walls…but here I was… away from all that and shackled to the floor with all of those things in my plain sight.

Madara 'hmph'ed before letting go of my hair; my head dropping a little automatically; but then I quickly received a sharp blow to the side of my face that made blood immediately ooze out of my nose and down my lips.

"You are…a traitor, Itachi Uchiha," Madara commented almost happily from above as he fixed his glove, probably in order to strike me again, "…and betraying Akatsuki is like…stabbing your own parents, really. Oh wait! You've already done that!"

I winced again from such a tender statement made light, my face scrunching up and my bleeding face dropping even lower as my broken mind was quickly reaching its limits until I just begged for a quick death.

I knew I could not take much more of this – I already felt defeated, empty… so anything more was just…unworldly hurtful to my previously crumbled resolve.

I wanted to tell him to just kill me…but I did not even possess the mentality to trust myself to speak eloquently anymore; I did not have the determination or the aptitude to actually talk back to this madman before me. My mindset currently of just a gloomy, broken 'let it be' attitude…and I was already accepting that that was how it was to end for – by this crazed man's hands for something completely unjust, and with my mouth closed with nothing to say about any of it.

Just let it be…

X

Meanwhile…

_**Sasuke's POV**_

Itachi had been gone a long time; I had not stopped worrying about him…ever since he had woken up.

My heart had sunk when I saw how Itachi had refused to look at me, and when he had…there'd been nothing but distress and grief in his eyes.

I yearned to tell him that he had done nothing wrong, that this was not a bad situation, and that I had meant what I had said to him when I told him that I just wanted us to be able to see each other again.

I felt terrible; I had never meant to deceive him, but I knew that it was the only way to make my idea possible – nothing but good intentions for us both had been on my mind the entire time.

It had hurt; it had hurt so unbearably bad as I had cut out my own eye in front of one of the operating room mirrors…but I had done it and bore all of that physical pain and mental discord…for him.

So, when I saw Itachi walk away from me as he had, my heart had broken.

I just wanted us to be happy; I just wanted to help him…but now he was upset with me and it was my fault.

I knew I often acted impulsively, and was more or less rather selfish about a lot of things, but with Itachi…with my strong, admirable, and perfect brother by my side, thinking of just myself was not even an issue anymore.

Itachi was it for me…and I was grateful for it.

That did it; I had to find him and try talking to him again, no matter what. I had to make this right again between us and I mentally promised myself that I would not make any more mistakes.

If I had to ask Itachi about everything from now on, so be it – just as long as I did not upset him like that again.

I could not bear it, seeing him look frightened, confused, and unsure about what to say back to me…never again.

My previously fraught mind made up, I rushed out of the operating room; me having admittedly stayed there to let Itachi have his space for a while; and I instantly knew where I should go – the same place that Itachi always went when he wanted to be by himself.

Dashing up the appropriate levels of stairs, I knowingly charged to the rooftops, my memory recalling nostalgically how I used to always see Itachi meditating on the highest point whenever he thought I was not watching him, and my hopes exponentially grew as I closed in on my destination.

In my mind's eye, I could already see my beautiful, regal brother sitting peacefully by himself in his usual spot; just waiting for me to grab him up in a strong, passionate embrace; and my heart soared with urgency to be by his side and feel his lips on mine again.

But…all of those thoughts were quickly, cruelly replaced by something else…something much darker once I finally was immersed in the early evening light and atmosphere and could see presumably well outside.

Nothing.

Itachi was not there, and I could only blink at the empty space where my precious brother should have been as my bangs were blown across my unmoving, shocked face while I internally blanked and could not even begin to try to assess what this meant.

Had he ran off? Did I lose Itachi again?!

Starting to tremble with rage and fear, I walked slowly across the roof to that specific spot, until…

Blood?

I gasped as I sank down to one knee and touched one of the many, scattered droplets of blood that I just knew without a doubt in my mind was Itachi's – any previous fear that I had had before was now devastatingly taking over anything else I was feeling at the moment; my mind on overdrive about the countless possibilities of what might have happened.

Tearing my eyes away from my brother's blood, I frantically looked around the heavily wooded area for any other clues or signs – broken branches, blotches of missing leaves in the trees, anything…anything!!

Wait!

…there was something; it just barely made it to my tearful eyesight, but there it was just the same.

I cautiously rose to my feet, ready to draw my sword much less take down an entire army at any second despite how much I just wanted to cry and scream my lungs raw right now, and slowly walked the rest of the way across the roof since what I saw was a little off in the distance.

After approaching the edge, I easily jumped off the roof and landed on the soft, grassy forest floor, right by…

"A mask…?" I quietly asked myself aloud, bending over and picking up the awkward-looking orange mask with a weird swirl pattern on the front that ended at a single eyehole.

I turned over the mask in my hand, continuing to stare at the odd thing with a puzzled look on my face, but then my expression turned deadly serious…my mind having finally figured out what must have happened here – it was the only thing that made sense.

Akatsuki – they must have taken him! They must have taken my Itachi but not before he knocked this hideous mask off of someone's face…but then, that blood on the roof...?

My mouth went dry as I contemplated my brother being hurt by the hands of some criminal– right over my own head, no less, as Itachi had had a fight, gotten hurt somehow, and was now somewhere that my racing head could not even fathom a guess right now.

I strained to not let my already aching heart sink even lower inside my chest as my imagination was immediately, ruthlessly thinking of what those insane bastards could be doing to my brother right now…my eyebrows coming together as I bit down on my lip hard in order to try to remain somewhat calm though I felt so horrifically alone.

I mentally fought to remain steadfast, resilient, and hard in order to have the proper mindset to go through with what I intended to do…but right now, I felt wounded and more enraged than I can ever recall feeling – unbelievably filled with such immeasurable anger that I could not even breathe for a second, but probably looked totally fine on the outside as my external self had yet to catch up with everything I was thinking.

It was more than a simple matter that they had taken something that was mine, they had fucking hurt and captured the love of my life!!

Forget being 'steadfast', forget having the 'proper mindset;'…forget everything that even tried to instill some kind of decency in ninja warfare and encounters – I was going to fucking tear the person who had hurt my Itachi to bloody, beating chunks of human flesh and watch him die.

My wind-chilled face looked calm and stoic, but inside…pure chaos ensued as my inner demon was already plotting exactly how I would do certain things to these unforgivable people – my expertly trained ninja senses, however, were already working in my favor of assessing that I go north and try to see if there's anymore blood to be found.

My own blood was in an aggressive rage that burned throughout my veins while my body remained seemingly passive; my mortal mind unable to keep up with this degree of fury. I took in a deep breath before darting off in the direction that I merely had a feeling that that was where my brother was taken.

Intuition of a lover, blind wrath taking action, I was not sure what exactly made me move, but I did and soon, I was racing through the trees at a breakneck speed…

…to save the one person I did not want to live without…before it was too late.

God help this world should I be too late…and saw my brother lying dead somewhere amidst a gruesome scene.

I, Sasuke Uchiha, would not be able to handle it…in the least, and everyone in this world would pay the price.

Those tears that I had refused to even form earlier when I had just found out that this was the work of the Akatsuki…finally ran freely down my focused, determined but patched-up face as I passed by incalculable trees, hopefully towards the one I desired more than anything in this life or the next.

"I'm coming, Itachi…just…hold on; wait for me," I whispered whole-heartedly, foolishly hoping that somehow, in some way, my beloved brother would hear my words… wherever he was.

_Author's Note_: Super intense, no? lol. Stay tuned, fans…and I do hope you are reading the quotes I add at the top of the chapters. lol. They might mean a little something, yes? Yes. Anywho, if you would be so kind as to let me know how I'm doing, I'd be most appreciative since this chapter was completely off the top of my head and thoroughly unplanned. Ha! Cheers. XD


	7. Chapter 7

"_I don't want to be / political energy / a constant apology / or an instrument of hurt / a hammer coming down / to pound and pound and pound…don't want to waste your time / or take what isn't mine / don't fix me cuz I'm broken / I was that way from the start."_

– Rocco De Luca and the Burden

Chapter Seven

"_I'm coming, Itachi…just…hold on; wait for me," I whispered whole-heartedly, foolishly hoping that somehow, in some way, my beloved brother would hear my words… wherever he was._

X

_**Sasuke's POV**_

"This must be the right way; I know it is…" I said aloud with my anger steadily rising and heating up inside my chest; my keen, narrowed eye having already spotted another few ounces of my brother's blood marking his trail here and there against the branches and leaves.

I had only been running a few hours, my speed coming from some other source than my own, and I knew I was getting close…I could _smell_ the grief and strife of my brother on the wind's current the further I went.

"I'm hurrying as fast as I can…" I murmured to myself again while picturing my brother's lovely, smiling face, unable to stop from voicing my overloading thoughts from time to time as I searched desperately for him, "…please don't die, Itachi!!!"

X

_**Itachi's POV**_

"Still nothing to say to me, my dearest Itachi? You're starting to hurt my feelings…" Madara cooed relentlessly from above my trembling, kneeling form– mental and physical torture having gone on for around two hours now while I had endured it all without so much as muttering a word this man.

Blood was pouring from my opened mouth at an alarming rate as my beaten jaw throbbed painfully inside my head; my breathing hard and unsteady as I fought to remain conscious despite how every reasonable molecule within me was telling me to just accept the impending darkness.

At least that way…I would not have to be aware of this pain any more…

But I refused.

I refused, desperate to remain somewhat honorable throughout all this; I refused to pass out from all my accruing strife and hardship because I would not accept being a coward, and dying without any self-respect left intact.

…it was all I had left, so I needed to cling to it for as long as possible.

However, much to my horror, my feeble resolve was undeniably shaken to the core with what this shameful man said to me next.

"I see. Well, if you're not going to use that mouth to speak to me…perhaps I can think of a different way for you to use it…" he purred provocatively, his shadowed form bending over my own so his sullying words blew right across my face, and I could feel how lacking in principle and concern they really were.

I cringed drastically as I heard him straight back up before me and slowly unzip his pants – my trembling unable to cease as my hazed, foggy mind was starting to betray any willpower I had left and mentally cry out with terrifying pleads of mercy.

Suddenly, I felt a rough, gloved hand grab underneath my savagely bloodied chin; my face looking like I had probably bitten out someone's jugular vein; and then yank my head up from its previously lowered position.

Too much, too fast, Madara ruthlessly shoved his massive, rigid member down my throat, making me choke on it at once as I had not been prepared for this kind of treatment at all.

My battered jaw had already been hurting so badly, but now that it was opened wide to accommodate this man's large, cursed cock, I felt like it just might fall off and hit the ground and I shook from the additional pain and torment that it was having on my body.

My dual-colored eyes squeezed shut as warm tears began to sting them as I tried to relax my throat muscles so I would not gag anymore; my frantic mind telling me repeatedly to just endure this because it was a sure-fire way to please him and then maybe…just maybe…he would let me go or at least release me from my back-breaking shackles at last.

However, discrediting my 'hang in there' attitude, Madara was being far too violent with me, as he immediately took to pounding his solid length into my mouth and effectively sought out to just quickly pleasure himself with me as his immovable means.

Despite how internally enraged and shattered I was feeling at this moment, I could not help but woefully consider that perhaps it was better this way. Rather than have me actually do anything, I only had to basically keep still and let him do as he pleased…and then it would all be over.

I knew it would have been further torture to me if he had wanted me to purposefully give him pleasure on my own; so in some small way, I was a little grateful that of all the things that Madara could have been doing to me, it was just this…but even coming to that conclusion as I was forcefully used the way I was, was bad enough.

Mournful tears ran down my straining, pained face, but Madara only commented madly from above, "Such a gorgeous expression...a filthy, murderous angel all covered in blood…ugh…just like how you should be."

Since I was crying, my throat was trying to close up again in a natural reflex, but Madara was unfortunately quick to catch on to my condition, so he cruelly fisted my long locks; making me hiss sharply in pain around his swollen length; as he continued, "You…better not bite, dearest…ooh…or I swear…I will captured Sasuke as well and make you watch as I tear off his skin."

I swallowed some saliva that had collected in my mouth from nothing but pure, undaunted fear upon hearing such a barbaric threat to my most precious person; knowing right away that it was not an empty one; and to my total dismay and sickness, I heard Madara only groan in carnal pleasure from my act of moving my throat.

Finally after only a moment more, I felt Madara's long fingers squeeze his fistfuls of my hair at the roots as he arched his back and drove his cock even further in my mouth – his hot, bittersweet come quickly flooding my throat and making me have to swallow most of it in order not to choke and cough, but I made sure to collect as much of his tainted, sinful essence in my mouth to spit out when it was over.

My eyes narrowed in complete disgust towards this man as I peered up through my bangs at him; his horrible taste in my mouth, his acts of pure evil that he had inflicted on me and had threatened Sasuke with were all blazing through my mind that filled me with a renewed sense of malice and made all my thoughts of hopelessness obsolete.

If I still had my rage, I still had something, and right now I wanted nothing more than to tear out his stomach and feed his own small intestine to him and watch him choke on his own insides until he died.

Only breaking eye contact with Madara's wickedly smirking face for a second, I lewdly spat out the rest of his come from my mouth that joined the small puddles and spots of my own blood and sweat below me on the cold ground, before I glared up at him once more – his death still replaying over and over inside my mind.

It bothered me to no end that I could not wipe off my violated mouth, as I could very well distinguish the lines of his sticky semen running down my chin from fresh blood that was still oozing out of my split lips and shredding cheeks.

"Very nice, indeed, Uchiha…but now I think I'll…" he started to say with his same, dreadfully upbeat tone before cutting off his words abruptly – the blatant sound of someone screaming from somewhere in the building catching both of our attentions.

"What the hell?" he pondered aloud; me thinking the same question; as Madara quickly left my side to snatch up his more-than familiar cloak from a nearby armchair as he made his way across the room to where the only, wooden door was, right where the large crimson floor rug was and fireplace were.

As admittedly curious as I also happened to be about what was going on, I, too, was extremely grateful because it had distracted Madara Uchiha and had finally made him walk away from me – my air sighing out silently, appreciatively from my parted, bruised lips just seeing the distance between us grow bigger as he crossed the large, dark room.

Right about when Madara was at the door, cloak in hand ready to be thrown on, I started to cough a bit; my head responsively tucking back down as I choked on the fluids invading my mouth at the moment – more spots of my own blood and Madara's come hitting and breaking against the floor in a grotesque display.

My adrenaline having subsided, the full weight of the situation having reformed on top of my exhausted shoulders once more, I felt terrible – overly abused, worn out, ragged to the core, and so very, very drained of energy and will.

My tear-soaked eyes felt heavy inside my head, my throbbing jaw hanging limply at the hinges, and I had lost count of how long I had been bleeding this profusely…not a good sign as I had been trying so diligently to remain conscious throughout all of this.

Now…keeping conscious seemed like not even a possibility anymore as I lethargically, nonchalantly assessed that I was definitely less of the person than when I had first entered this room. Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually…I felt finished; like I just had to be done because I was already too far gone to regain anything I had lost in this room…because of that man and his insane but always truthful words.

I was a murderer; I was tainted…so…maybe covered in blood, my own, no less, was the sort of fate I truly deserved. It had been refreshing to feel such hatred towards him in that one, brief moment again, but now…as I remained kneeling as I had been for the past few hours, I could not help but be ruefully overwhelmed with my previous mindset of 'whatever will be, will be.'

I found such a development morbidly fitting to one such as myself as I heard Madara open the door to the room and hurriedly exit with a sharp slam thereafter.

I coughed again, but then heard another scream – this one was much closer than the one before…right outside the corridor as it were.

I gulped, tasting nothing but my own blood, as my dreary, unfocusing eyes looked up towards the appropriate direction – the area too far off to be clear to me, as the lighting just did not reach over by the door and my vision was already fading as my overworked body was automatically trying to pull itself into a recuperative sleep as fast as possible.

It was a struggle for me to remain awake and aware, so I uncaringly just dropped my head…even as I heard from somewhere down the corridor, an extremely gritty and muffled,_"…where is he…!"_

It must have been yelled, but it only sounded like a lowly growled whisper to my far-off, tired senses as I slowly blinked at more of my drops of blood rain down from my chin and into the much bigger and spread out puddles below my face – my battle-worn mentality and psyche…already accepting an inevitable defeat as I only awaited for someone...to kill me.

Suddenly, though I paid it little mind with no kind of physical acknowledgement, that same wooden door to the room that Madara had just exited a few moments ago, was loudly knocked off its hinges as something came crashing into it; tiny splinters and pieces off wood spraying from the doorjamb in its wake from such a harsh force of impact.

I slowly blinked again before just barely lifting my heavy, black and white eyes towards the commotion; my brain not too concerned with what was going on, however.

"Ugh…!" sounded thickly in the dreary atmosphere, like there had been blood in the person's mouth when he had said it, before an even shriller, "…ARGH!!!

The strangled scream pierced the otherwise quiet room, filling it with an instant intensity that made me try to focus my eyes a little more towards whoever had been thrown in this room – another drop of my blood hitting the cold floor positively rang in my ears like I had just screamed as well.

My half-lidded eyes grew a bit wider as I started to make out the image of Madara Uchiha lying next to what seemed to be the shattered wooden door on the ground – a long blade sticking upright from his shoulder which instantly drew my attention to the pools of blood that were starting to soak into the large floor rug below him.

"Itachi!!? Oh my God…" was shouted through a choked voice, breaking my avid attention from the bleeding, writhing form far out in front of me that was only being illuminated by the subtle fireplace glow.

I heard light footsteps rush towards me, signaling to me that someone was indeed approaching me, but I still did not look away from Madara Uchiha, my tormentor, as he shakily tried to use his other hand to pry the sword out of his arm.

"Itachi, look at me…look at me, okay? I'm going to get you out of here," a commanding though unsteady voice said right in my face; my eyes finally leaving Madara's pathetic form but only to look somewhere to my bottom-left; my mental capacity still not able to catch up to what was happening as I was not ready to say anything yet, either.

In the next instant, the metal shackles around my wrists were all but torn off from their brackets on the ground; same with the ones around my ankles; and I was then tackled backwards the rest of the way to the ground so that I was sitting with my bent legs out in front of me.

"Sasuke…?" I finally voiced quietly, dreamily; my arms slowly coming around from my sides to lightly wrap around the shaking, sobbing form in my lap.

Sasuke's hands were clutching tightly onto the front of my shirt as he cried desperately against my chest, his smaller frame being wracked with sob after sob as he did so; prompting me to lower my aimless stare to look at him at last.

His head was tucked underneath my chin as I only saw his spiky black hair move around a little as he buried his face against my collarbone and continued to soak the front of my bloodied, grimy shirt.

"Sasuke," I said more firmly than last time, my inner resolve replenishing slowly on account of having my most precious person in my arms once more who was crying over the time we had been apart, "Sasuke…"

My little brother finally looked up at me, his one eye overloaded with tears that seemed to endlessly run down his stained, trembling face while his other was still covered by his gauze eye-patch that had a few minuscule speckles of blood on it – his expression a mixture of relief, frustration and something akin to horror as he took in my appreance.

"Itachi…your face; you're bleeding so much…those fucking bastards, I'm going to kill them all…and your hand…!" Sasuke said lowly to me in between sobs, his hands fisting my shirt a little tighter which made me realize that seeing me as I was must be making him angrier.

While I basically already knew that my face had to look like a bloody mess at the moment, Sasuke's last comment made me quickly shoot a glance to my hands which were on Sasuke's back; my sore wrists flexing upwards so I could see them from over Sasuke's form.

The hand that Madara had crushed had two broken fingers, both of them black and pointing at unhealthy, odd angles at a few of the joints. Due to my hands having been pressed flat against the cold floor for so long, the blood flow to them had been cut off, which had lessened how much pain I had actually experienced when those fingers had, in fact, been broken.

I sighed through my nose at the misfortune and squeezed him tighter to me; forever loving how his lithe body felt against my own; and I mentally gave thanks to whatever higher force in life there might be that I had not given up and begged for death as I had considered…because now I could not fathom such as thing as I held Sasuke so close, and he held onto me.

"Thank you, Sasuke," I said with a weak smile – my words regarding how he had come for me, how he was crying for me, how much he cared for me even after I had stopped caring…I could not thank him enough, "…thank you."

Before waiting for a reply, with my hands moving to grip his shoulders, I gingerly guided my darling little brother off of me so I may stand up; my pained leg muscles practically begging me to do just that; as I slowly got to my feet with a few stifled winces – my eyes, now glinting with more determination and malice than ever at Madara.

I staggered over to Madara's sprawled out, heaving form; the older Uchiha having given up trying to take out the sword from his torn, shoulder muscles some time ago; I still felt a little blood dribble down my chin and string across the floor as I went – my numb feet making the transition from the cold, bare floor to the soft carpet as I approached him.

My shoulder blades felt haggard against my back, but I still took a deep breath and straightened my spine – my pride returning and making my anger rise once more to an electrifying degree as I saw Madara's lazy, bloodied grin as he lay there and bled at my feet.

"You know…I like you this way," I taunted lowly, echoing Madara's own horrible words to me when I was at my lowest; Madara's stirring smile growing as I continued, "…it makes you look…dead."

With a swipe of my hand, I wrapped my fingers around the warm hilt of Sasuke's sword and snatched it easily out of Madara's bleeding arm, making even more tiny droplets of his blood spring into the air, before delivering a brutal slash across his abdomen - thick masses of dark red blood and torn flesh spraying up and out of the vicious wound in my strike's wake.

Madara instantly coughed up more blood that splattered across his own face, his smile finally gone as a new look of pain twisted his features, as I let the heavy sword fall from my hand before I dropped to my knees by his side – my engrained nature of violence streaming through my senses, controlling my actions, and momentarily warping my mind as I so desperately wanted to continue hurting this man.

Wasting no time as I was feeling extremely anxious to leave this place once and for all with my brother, I shoved both of my bloody hands into the large, open wound I had just made across his stomach and immediately grabbed a hold of the soft, tender tissue that was there.

Madara screamed again, his face turned into that of delicious, white fear that only encouraged me further, as I savagely tore out a few, solid handful of his insides; completely separating the slippery pink masses of his entrails from his body before using my fingers to cram them into his opened, hollering mouth.

Madara's eyes watered over with unimaginable dread and disgust as I made him choke on his own innards; my fingers not stopping from violently shoving more and more of the contents of my hands into his mouth and down his throat – his own hands struggling against my purposed arms until I felt his movements get weaker and weaker.

I knew I was cutting off his air, I knew I was making him bleed out at a staggering rate, I knew the pain he had to be feeling must be blinding…and I only stopped when I did not feel him struggle anymore; my face that of an unmoving stone statue the entire, short time.

Breathing hard, I remained on my knees next to the desecrated corpse of Madara Uchiha, having done to him exactly what I had craved and imagined only a few moments ago; my body completely covered in blood and I could not stop my hands from trembling.

A warm palm, as gentle as a fallen leaf touching the ground for the first time, was laid on my shoulder as Sasuke stood at my side – he must have figured that that just now…had been completely personal and that I had needed to do that.

I appreciated Sasuke's silent, unquestioning space that he had granted me, but now I was even more thankful that he had not turned away from me once the gruesome deed was over.

Like a man torn completely apart from everything he had used to value in life, I angled my torso more towards my standing brother and gripped the bottom of his shirt; burying my blood-soaked face in white folds of his clothing and cried.

Fresh tears tickled my eyes before creeping down my bruised cheeks as I squeezed onto my brother's sides as if my life depended upon it; my brother dipping his back over a bit so he may hug my head even tighter; and I just knew in this moment…that I was truly done now.

I was done with killing, living a life of fighting and violence, and having to succumb to all the unforgiving things that it meant for me and my family.

I never…wanted to do that…again. I never wanted to be like that again, and most importantly…I never wanted Sasuke to see that in me again.

Ever.

"Shh…I am right here, 'tachi, right here…"Sasuke whispered from right above my head, my fingers clutching onto his clothing over and over again in order to find another grip on him as I wept quietly against him and sought out his love and comfort, "…it's all over."

My previously clouded and ruined mind was immaculately clear from finally crying and having my brother pet my hair and coo sweet reassurances to me – exactly everything that I had needed to happen, and I was rapidly feeling better; at home again.

I genuinely appreciated everything Sasuke had done for me, all of it pleasantly overflowing me with his feelings of love that thankfully replaced all the pain and strife I had struggled with before, which prompted me to apologize to no end for all of it.

I sniffed quietly, the last of my tears drying on my face as Sasuke squeezed my shoulders in his hands before tucking some of my hair behind my ear; my nose still pressed up against his clothed stomach; as I said, "I'm so sorry, Sasuke…for everything. I never should have left you…I just…"

Upon hearing my words, my brother instantly dropped down to his own knees so he and I were eye level, his hands gripping my shoulders tightly as he made the move and also so he may look me directly in my bloody, emotional face.

"Don't you…don't you say that to me," Sasuke said, his striking black eye blazing right through my mismatched ones as he continued resolutely, "You don't have anything to be sorry about, you hear me? You did nothing wrong."

Freeing one of his hands from my shoulder, Sasuke kindly wiped away one of my tears from my face, some of the dried blood streaking down my tanned flesh right along with it, as I swallowed some spit down my closed throat and just nodded my head in acceptance.

It felt so nice to hear my brother say something like that to me, and my relief of the whole situation was increasing exponentially the more he held onto me – I felt miraculously cleansed, pardoned, and affectionately grateful.

Sasuke licked his lips as he nodded affirmatively at me before saying, "Good. Now…let's get you home."

Obediently and while sniffling again, I rose to my feet right along with my brother who kept his hands on my arms to steady me…but then, I had an idea.

Without a word, I turned around; facing away from my brother; and then quickly leaned over so I may reach the ground - something in my hand when I straightened back up to be by Sasuke's side.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked from over my shoulder as I slowly turned around to face him again, looking thoughtfully at the retrieved item resting inside my palm before I looked up to meet Sasuke's gaze.

Extending my hand and uncurling my blood-stained fingers, I showed Sasuke…Madara's permanent Sharingan eye.

"…something for you," I commented heavily, meaningfully as I saw Sasuke's expression turn from questioning to shocked in a few, simple movements of his perfectly arched eyebrows – my younger brother clearly speechless at the moment, not knowing how to respond to me and my sudden proposition.

I smirked despite how much it hurt the sides of my jaw, before I added exasperatedly, "Now…we can go home."

_Author's Note_: So, I basically took everyone's advice with this one. lol. It went something like: Keep Madara a psychopath, have Sasuke save the day, have Itachi still get in his share, and have everything work out in the end. D So…yeah; that's what I did. Hope you all liked it, yes? Thanks a bunch for the suggestions!!! Yay!


	8. Chapter 8

"_I live for those who love me, for those who know me true, for the heaven so blue above me, and the good that I can do.__"_ – George Linnaeus Banks

X

Chapter Eight

_I was done with killing, living a life of fighting and violence, and having to succumb to all the unforgiving things that it meant for me and my family. _

_I never…wanted to do that…again. I never wanted to be like that again, and most importantly…I never wanted Sasuke to see that in me again. _

_Ever._

X

Three weeks later…

_**Itachi's POV**_

"…tachi….Itachi!" came flooding into my ears, ruining my peaceful slumber, so I only made a half-attempted 'mmn' sound in my throat and turned over onto my stomach in bed; the warm, thin sheets twisting tighter around my body as I made the adjustment.

"Itachi, it's time to get up," Sasuke tried again; not receiving any kind of answer this time as I was already falling back asleep, having gotten completely comfortable in a whole new way now that I was lying on my stomach with the side of my face nestled snuggly amidst our feather-soft, overstuffed pillows.

Obviously not a fan of being blatantly ignored, Sasuke only waited a second longer before grabbing onto a far end of the off-white and honey-colored comforter and then yanking the whole thing off of my snoozing form to prove his point.

I groaned pseudo-miserably into the intricately designed, silken pillow as I felt the dreadful morning chill start to make me aware of its presence, my tiredness leaving me as my alertness was kicking in so I may, in fact, start the day.

"Oh, come on already. I made breakfast," Sasuke added the last bit with a little hopeful upturn in his voice, purposefully trying coax me out of bed with the mentioning of his food.

…and his food was always good.

"Fine…fine," I mumbled, turning back over and slowly swinging one leg after the other over the edge of the cream-colored mattress, forcing myself to sit up and face one of the many brightly shining windows that was in our new bedroom.

One of my eyes was cracked open while the other was still closed as I yawned groggily and felt the large bed dip down from behind me; telling me that Sasuke had gotten onto it as well and was inching closer to me.

I finished my yawn with a little huff before feeling Sasuke's weight settle down behind me, a comb coming into my hair as Sasuke performed his own, personal morning ritual of braiding my hair for me.

It was like candy-sweet magic every time and I relished in the gentle sensations of having my hair straightened out for me as I leaned back into his touch a little more and welcomed the new day in the best possible way.

"Thanks, Sasuke," I said as I rubbed the heaviness of my dual-colored eyes so I may actually see and be mobile now and not just think about going back to sleep again; Sasuke's combing as efficient as ever as he ran the brush through my hair only a few times to calm down the unruly locks before he could braid it all.

"As usual, you're welcome...now hold still," Sasuke said sweetly and sternly behind me, gathering up my long midnight mane and dividing it into three, equal parts to be intertwined amongst each other to form one, long braid to hang down my back.

It was a most thoughtful gesture from my brother as my hair had gotten quite long and on a few occasions had gotten into my way while eating and other things; so Sasuke had opted awhile back to start braiding my hair for me before we ate breakfast so none of my food would get ruined again.

Besides, he probably knew that it did feel really nice for me to have him play with my hair as he did every day; making it an extremely effective means of motivation for me to wake up and seek him out straight away. Feeling his long, slender fingers working through the length of my hair soothed my soul and put my refreshed mind at ease every morning- it was like nothing else and I loved it every time.

"There you go," Sasuke said, pleased with his work, as he used his fingers to smooth down my long bangs around my face last; the rest of my hair now braided down my back; before he shifted his weight to slide off the bed from my left.

Still sitting in just my dark grey boxers, I gave my right shoulder a little flex to stretch out the sleep-cramped muscles before I lazily rose up from the bed and faced my already dressed brother who was patiently waiting on me by the door; his white-robed arms folded over his chest while he wore this amused, lop-sided grin on his lovely face.

After a crack of my neck and a quick scratch to my left ear, I pulled on a pair of loose-fitting black pants that had already been laid out for me ahead of time, along with a simple v-neck cut black shirt – not too caring about fishnet undershirts and arm and leg wrappings at the moment since eating breakfast with my brother always came prior to worrying about anything else.

"You know you should just walk around naked," Sasuke commented in a dry, matter-of-fact way that made me whip my head towards him with an awkward look on my face – the younger Uchiha nonchalantly ogling me as I dressed and moved about in front of him.

"Cute, Sasuke. Then what am I supposed to do if enemy ninja show up at our door?" I asked sarcastically yet seriously as I pulled my braid out from inside my shirt once I had put it on.

I looked back to Sasuke; my black and white eyes meeting his black and red in a comfortable yet playful stare – smiles making their way onto both of our faces at such a ridiculous mental scenario of me actually greeting some of our dangerous and most powerful foes at the door in the nude and just being totally fine with it.

Being the oftentimes mouthy younger brother that he was, Sasuke smartly replied back to my rhetoric with a chuckle, "It would probably work in our favor if our enemies saw you like that. They would be too busy drooling over you; I could just walk right up and kill them without them even knowing."

One of my eyebrows rose at this while I sort of half-frowned my lips; truthfully embarrassed as well as highly flattered at my brother's raunchy antics about how my naked body would distract others so much, even people that are supposed to hate us to no end.

"I'll keep that in mind," I answered back in an even drier tone than what he had used, letting Sasuke know with the curve of my lips and the slight roll of my eyes that he had definitely made me blush on the inside – my hands busy straightening up our bed with a quick fix to the ruffled covers and disarranged pillows.

Sasuke briefly laughed at my purposefully grouchy but good-natured retort as he uncrossed his arms – his laughter warm and wonderful and every bit as adorable as I remembered it from years ago when we were little.

"So, what's for breakfast?" I asked while administering another light scratch to the same ear as before, my head tucked down a little bit as I did so and I knew I just had to look like a begging puppy right about now – it was completely on purpose.

In all truth, it really did not matter what kind of food my brother made; I would always eat it just the same, but I was just trying to keep the extremely sweet, light conversation going, I suppose; forever loving how we could talk about this and that at all times of the day since he and I had that kind of precious time together now.

At my almost child-like question, Sasuke's small smile grew wider, his mismatched but fully seeing eyes showing nothing but warmth to me, as he casually refolded his arms back over his chest and said, "I was just kidding; I still need to make it. So, come help me when you're ready… I'll be waiting for you."

And with that, he turned around and exited our bedroom; probably still with that devil's smile of his on his face while feeling pretty satisfied with himself as he walked away from me and towards our kitchen; leaving me standing there feeling positively light-hearted and bamboozled.

I rolled my eyes at his retreating form, a cocky smile stretching my lips as I considered his slight prank on me, before I turned to the right and walked the short distance into the adjacent master bathroom to quickly wash up before handling food.

I was so unbelievably happy.

After our conflict with Madara Uchiha, Sasuke and I had wasted no time and had fled from Orochimaru's old hideout – allegations made by other Akatsuki members were sure to make their way to me one way or another, so we knew that we could not stay in the same place as before.

Our decision had been effortless, like the idea itself had been something that he and I had been born with and still possessed, as we had made the choice to go to a secluded area up north in the Land of Waterfalls and build a house there just for the two of us.

Between the two of us working tirelessly around the clock, our humble abode had been finished in record time and we had been living here ever since – our intention was to probably stay here forever together.

The process had been tedious and grueling but well worth the trouble, as trees from all over the area had to be cut down and fashioned; never a large amount of trees from the same spot since that might look suspicious to someone; which was followed by a word of mouth blueprint for the actual construction for the modest but spacious, wooden house that we had had specifically placed by a lot of medium-sized, leafy trees on every side and with multiple windows per wall. Concealing our presence as well as being able to see what was going on outside from the inside were crucial, but we had managed to pull of such criteria for our new home remarkably and without fail.

Our hard work that we had endured with seemingly endless amounts of energy had paid off indefinitely; one Uchiha knowing that all of his labor was not solely just for himself the entire time; as we now had a share in the other's life and could enjoy it in our own house that no one else knew about, in a distant land where nothing would bother us.

That was all we had ever truly wanted, I dare say, and now…that dream was a reality.

I was so happy.

I could not help but reflect gratefully, triumphantly on these things he and I had accomplished once I was by myself from time to time; as I was now in the master, dark red and honey-accented bathroom and peering thoughtfully into the large, framed mirror above the sink.

I had finished brushing my teeth and washing my face; the dampened ends of my bangs slightly stringing in front of my dripping face; as I just took a moment to keep my hands pressed flat against the edge of the cool, white sink and take most of my weight off my legs.

Eyes of two different colors and capacities looked back at me from my reflection in the mirror, but the image and concept did not serve to bother me like it had the first time I was made aware of it.

Now, I could not be more thankful for my brother's choice and sacrifice. I loved being able to see him; every angelic facial expression of his, every quirk he could not help but perform from day to day, every time I would catch him just staring right back at me.

Sasuke made my blood race and slow down at the same time; exciting my nerves and putting me on my toes while offering a certain calming serenity with his presence simultaneously, but such a phenomena did not confuse me any longer.

While I could barely recognize my own reflection, I was glad of all the changes that had occurred; making me a different man than who I was before…making me a better man.

I was a better person because of him, but I also recognized that I was better _for_ him

I sniffed in a bit of air before raising one of my hands to my face and rubbing my nose for a second; more crystal-clear drops of water falling from all angles of my tanned face before I blinked and then lowered my gaze to the drain in the sink. My thoughts honestly never stopped being so heavy and meaningful inside my head, but it was only all the more encouraging for me to continue to do right by him, love him unconditionally, and to truly accept this newfound happiness with open, willing arms.

Fluidly snatching up the small, folded white towel by the side of the sink and pressing it firmly to my face only once, I then flung the soft material back down to where it had been before I quickly turned away from the bathroom and went to be by my brother's side.

X

"The rice is done," I commented, quite happy with the sticky, fluffy turnout of our small portions of rice that I had prepared to accompany our breakfast.

"Good, because I'm ready for it, Sasuke answered at my back as he placed equal portions of steamed fish and vegetables onto each of our burgundy porcelain plates with surprisingly delicate care and attention.

After one last stir to the rice in the pot with the wooden cooking spoon, I gripped the handle and lifted it off the burner of our stove; turning towards Sasuke and stepping beside him so I could add the contents to the plates at the same time.

I could tell Sasuke was smiling next to me, as close as he was, as he finished his task, while I spooned out more rice for us both to eat– the knowledge making me smile happily in the process as well.

I needed to take out one more spoonful of rice for my plate, but could not do it right away as Sasuke sweetly proceeded to wrap his arms around my neck from the side; bringing me down a bit as he stood on his toes and pressed a firm, chaste kiss to my cheek, almost like it was in thanks.

I had already been smiling, but now I chuckled at how impossibly loving and cute Sasuke was being before I straightened back out and placed the pot back down on top of the stove with a wide reach back; ready to eat but even more ready to give Sasuke a kiss in return.

I lightly seized my brother's slender, exposed wrist and gave it a solid, but not violent yank towards me; the act making my brother all but lose his footing as he came rushing towards me – my back leaning comfortably against out black-topped counters in our warm and inviting wood-grained kitchen.

Sasuke gingerly collided into my sturdy chest and my hands were already cupping his infinitely adorable, smiling face, angling it up towards me, as I dipped my own smirking face down and pressed my lips to his petal-soft mouth.

Fingers clutched at the front of my shirt with almost a distinct desperation behind the strength as Sasuke purred into my mouth and I moved to kiss him again, our lips positively melding into the others' as I gently stroked my brother's perfect cheekbones with the pads of my thumbs and relished in how inexplicably soothing Sasuke's breath felt against my skin, the length of his body pressed up against mine, his supple, needy lips seeking out my own.

Gathering some shred of sense in a half-serious, half-joking manner, I lingeringly broke off our bittersweet, morning kiss in the kitchen before saying, "The food's getting cold."

"Let it," Sasuke replied sternly without missing a beat before smashing his lips against my own once more, this time with more urgency and demand behind his movements and force - exactly the things I could never oppose of my little brother as I let him somewhat overwhelm me by taking control of our kiss.

His body ground into my own, pushing me back even more against the countertop, as I felt him uncurl his fists and slide his hands down the flat, solid planes of my chest – the gesture making me kiss him a bit harder as I angled my head to a side so I could deepen our heated kiss.

My hands left his face and instead wound around his slender back, squeezing him to me, before I groaned against my brother's talented mouth as Sasuke's hands had reached my trapped groin and administered a no-nonsense grip to my stirring cock through my clothes.

This time, it was Sasuke who broke off our kiss as he playfully but purposefully glared up into my pleasured, tortured face and cooed, "The food can wait. I want…this."

I groaned again before biting my lip to stifle the sound as Sasuke gave me another possessive squeeze – his mismatched eyes never leaving my face as he watched me all but come apart for him in record time.

I could not help it; Sasuke's lips were like the finest alcohol zinging straight through my system while his hands always served as a potent catalyst to such intoxicating effects on me; forever reducing me to a witless, wanton version of a man with only a few, knowing ministration and coaxes.

"The food can wait," I agreed, my black and white eyes already becoming half-lidded with desire as I watched Sasuke's grin widen even more across his handsome face; his hand still tightly holding my growing arousal, feeling its increasing strain and excitement.

Hastily, I gripped the sides of my brother's narrow, tantalizing waist and ground my erection into his, my lips equally as quick to seek out his again so I may feel his moan when he let it out from feeling such delicious, tempting friction.

His soft tongue swirled inside my mouth, tasting everything I had to offer, as I ran only my fingertips teasingly up Sasuke's perfectly sculpt back; his shirt pulling up in the process and revealing more of his porcelain skin to me. As soon as Sasuke's long white shirt was all but falling off him, I seized the thin material in my hands and roughly pulled the garment off of him, eager to have him naked before me.

As I rid my sexy little brother of his shirt; one of my hands already raising up to grip some of his short, black spikes while my other hand slowly ran down his smooth, bare back; Sasuke pressed himself even harder against me – his hands sliding from my hips to my ass which he squeezed suggestively and pulled closer to him so our trapped, swollen members would rub together once more.

I shuddered a bit upon feeling Sasuke be so demanding and wanton with my body, but did not have much time to recover before I felt Sasuke deliver a quick nip to my bottom lip – my mind losing track of how his hands had already gripped the hem of my shirt and was now lifting the lithe material from my torso as I could only feel wholly consumed by how maddeningly wonderful it felt to have Sasuke's cock pulsating against mine.

Before I knew it, I was rid of my own black shirt and was currently watching through lust-hazed, half-lidded eyes as my strikingly beautiful Sasuke was carefully sinking down to his knees in front of me; his hands trailing down my body as various curves and lines as he made the move.

Looking down at Sasuke as I was, I could not help but gulp at such an unworldly erotic sight as he effortlessly inched down my soft black pants with both of his hands and administered a quick lick to the pink, enflamed head of my cock once it was released and right in front of his small face.

I shivered at the gesture and unconsciously reached my hands out to my sides to grip onto the edge of the kitchen counter that was behind me for support – my eyes still glued to Sasuke's mouth and tongue and how he used them to only give me fleeting, torturous amounts of pleasure as he kissed and lightly licked around the ultra-sensitive head.

Fingers tightening against the cool, solid surface of the counters, I dreamily craned my neck back and sighed out my pleasure as Sasuke effectively played with me, his deadly, lovely hands still holding tight onto my pants which only served to drive me even more insane as I internally craved to have him grip me with that same intensity.

It delighted me to no end that Sasuke was so adamant about pleasuring me and seeking out his own pleasure from me in turn, and I let out a strangled moan to the kitchen ceiling once I felt my younger brother let my rigid member slide passed those perfectly shaped lips of his and down his throat – his fingernails scratching down the sides of the muscled curve in my waist as he did so.

Still keeping me fully in his mouth, Sasuke used his tongue to work the underside of my weeping member; my heightened senses picking up every flick and recoil his soft, wet muscle performed on me as I felt jolt after blissful jolt of red-hot pleasure build up deep within me.

I shuddered again, my breathing becoming a little heavier through my mouth, as I looked back down at my little brother again; his button nose almost pressed flat against my lower abdomen as he kept my cock deep down his throat – his light suckling only serving as pure, riddling torture to me as no necessary friction and additional movement was being administered to my begging body and disintegrating resolve.

I knew Sasuke knew what he was doing – he was purposefully trying to make me insane for him so I would just abandon all kind of loving courtesy and just give him a good, hard fuck.

…so be it.

Who am I to deny my precious younger brother, my only family?

Freeing my hands from the counter behind me, I grasped my brother's hollowed cheeks and pulled him off of my cock with a distinguished wet sound – his neediness beforehand and now painstakingly slow pleasure had completely done the trick of making me lose it.

Sasuke was quickly back on his feet in front of me again upon having released my cock from his mouth, and I was even quicker to seize around his middle and effortlessly lift him off the ground; his legs bending at the knees automatically so he would be an easier carry.

I only had to take a few, big stride-type steps forward until I was on the opposite side of our elongated kitchen, where I proceeded to effectively sit Sasuke down on top of the black-topped bar where we always ate most of our meals and just chatted face-to-face.

There would be no casual chatting right now, however, as Sasuke was already licking long, hungry lines up and down my bare neck as I hastily rid him of his black pants – the garment all but being torn from his long legs and mindlessly chucked off to my left so I could finally see to my prize.

Sasuke's fingers clutched at my shoulders before he used his hands to feel down my arms as I worked in situating him – my little brother's lovely, pale legs hooking around my hips as he sort of leaned back for me while still holding onto me so he could still remain propped up.

His eyes held that of a dare while his body showed that of the opportunity…and I knew it was all on purpose by my younger brother; only one thing came to mind to say to him as a result of his wanton ministrations and mannerisms – if Sasuke wanted it rough, it would be rough.

"Sasuke, I'm going in dry," I informed him, no room for negotiations was present in my low, breathy words to him as I freed one hand from my brother's heated, perfect body angled in just the right way before me on that kitchen bar.

In a matter of mere milliseconds, my free hand was grasping my hard, pulsating member at its base and I was positioning the thick, moistened tip at my brother's unprepared entrance…when I felt a particularly hard squeeze to my biceps from Sasuke's hands; making me raise my eyes to seek out his face.

Sasuke had his bottom lip in between his teeth and his eyes looked deliciously helpless as he clung to me before he said pleadingly, "Do it, 'tachi…I want to feel you…all of you."

Obliging his mind-bending and all-too inviting words, I kept my eyes transfixed on Sasuke's striking face while I slowly pushed inside of him; intent on seeing every reaction my younger brother would make on account of my doing so; my hands resting flat on the smooth surface of the bar on either side of his waist while I moved.

I watched, mesmerized, as Sasuke's face scrunched up in sheer pain as pressure was applied to his tight skin until it eventually gave way and his entrance was forced to stretch around and accommodate my large member pushing into him at a maddeningly cautious and measured pace.

"Ugh…nng…" Sasuke voiced in his throat, trying to deal with the initial, undaunted pain as he looked like I had punched him in the stomach rather than entered him as I was; his words and actions wringing out murmur after murmur of loving, comforting words to him from me.

"I love you so much…so much…Sasuke," I chanted in a lust-filled, whispered voice for only him to ever here as I continued – my body almost shaking as a result from having to remain so composed through this though I took to placing kiss after open-mouthed kiss to his collarbone and neck.

The more I sheathed myself inside of him, the more Sasuke seemed to relax as his brow was kept furrowed but now he was not gritting his teeth in pain and was only breathing heavily as he gazed up at me and retracted his fingernails that I had not even realized were dug relatively firmly into the rugged flesh on my arms.

"I'm alright," he breathed at last as he wrapped his arms around my neck and brought us even closer together; his legs trembling a bit as he raised them only a fraction higher up around my back as he held me tightly now before I did anything else.

To support him so he could remain as he was; just barely sitting on the top of the bar and hugging me securely with his arms and legs; I moved my hands from the bar to his lower back and gently started pulling my cock out of his impossibly tight entrance – the move proving to be a bit difficult as his intoxicatingly hot entrance was squeezing my length almost too much.

Inside of him, with no kind of barriers whatsoever, felt amazing and I knew that I would have to do this with him again – the exact same way.

Sasuke shivered and moaned sensually as I pulled my length out of him and gasped and clawed his fingers across my bare shoulder blades once I eased all of it back into him; my pace still mindfully slow since I did not want to hurt him.

Since no kind of prior lubrication having been used on anyone's part, I could feel every tremor, every tremble, every mind-blowing time Sasuke even twitched a certain way as I repeated pushing and pulling my heavy cock deep inside of him; every time relishing in all his encouraging, addicting sounds that he made as he arched his slender back in my hands.

I could have sworn that I could feel it even when his mood changed, just how much he liked a certain something I did, and just how far into ecstasy I was bringing him with each passing second.

I had never felt so connected to him before in my life, and it was captivating.

Quicker, with more burdening, magnificent passion positively flooding out of me now, I made love to Sasuke as I increased my pace – his moans starting to overlap each other and create this beautiful chorus for me as I groaned my own pleasure while I semi-unconsciously kneaded the lithe muscles underneath my hands.

Sasuke kept his back arched for me; his arms stretched out as he held onto my broad, scratched shoulders for support; his voice and actions revealing nothing but his white-hot pleasure as he obviously relaxed his muscles for me even more while I processed to pound into his loosening, dripping entrance with such tenacity and need that it made me moan right along with him.

"Oh…shit, Itachi…s-so…good...mmn…" Sasuke stammered hotly before he tossed his head back to let out a throaty moan to our ceiling; his wonderful, battle-hardened hips and legs moving right along with my hurried thrusts into him as I was vastly being overwhelmed with all of my senses being brimmed with nothing but the extreme eroticism my younger brother exhibited while being so unrestrained, so passionate; so desperate for only my sex.

Pounding furiously now, like I had something to prove and die for, I gripped the sides of my brother's hips painfully hard; forever loving his short, airy screams he would make as I got even rougher with him; and could not stop such words from coming out of my opened, panting mouth.

"Tell me how much you love me," I growled out to him before dropping my sweating brow to his equally sweating and dampened collarbone – Sasuke's back remained arched as his fingers dove into the short hairs on my neck not included in my braid and squeezed; both of our breathing excessively hard as I felt myself becoming dangerously close.

"…so much…ahh…Itachi, I love you…ughn…s-so fucking much…," Sasuke answered shakily, his neglected but pulsating member throbbing violently in between our two, grinding stomachs as we kept each other as close as possible.

Upon hearing my brother's sex-laced words that spoke of his undying, unwavering love for no one else but me, I could not help but feel an immediate jolt of electric current zip through all of my previously pent-up sexual need and practically make me come on the spot, though I was able to ward it off with a sharp bite to my lower lip and an increasingly desperate grunt in the process.

I needed to hear more.

Only taking the smallest of moments to widen my stance a touch more, I reaffirmed my almost deadly-serious hold on my brother's nicely curved waist before whispering, "And whose cock is the only one you'll ever want inside of you?"

My thrusts were bordering on savage in their concentrated intensity as to hit only one spot that had my brother bellowing wildly to the heavens, but miraculously, Sasuke was able to answer though highly broken and stammered, "Ahhh...yours! …oh my God…only yours; I'll only want your cock, brother…mmmn!"

Pure ecstasy to me and my cock swelled dramatically inside of him as a result as he tipped his head back and let out another silent scream pass those unabashed, promising lips of his.

I could hear it in my brother's exhausted, sultry voice; feel it in the sway of his begging hips that matched my every thrust; and know it from the way Sasuke's textured insides were positively sucking my large, hot member deeper and deeper inside of him – Sasuke was nearing his climax as well.

"Come for me…mmn…just like this," I purred against Sasuke's heated flesh; my words low and timbered and filled with nothing but smoky, drunken lust for my brother; "…with nothing but my cock deep inside you…come for me…Sasuke."

I had practically breathed out Sasuke's name as I had spoken to him; my voice almost making love to the precious word in its own right as I finished my lewd command.

My brother's face flushed with even more pink than had already been there as he squeezed his eyes shut and gripped my shoulders even tighter in his trembling hands – my own head craning back in a loud moan once he did so since I felt him purposefully squeeze my intruding cock with his insides so he could feel me even more while he got off.

"Fuck, Itachi…kiss me," Sasuke pleaded breathlessly below me, immediately prompting me to lower my face back down to his and smash our lips together; our kiss instantaneously hot and heavy as our breath mixed and tongues clashed.

Then, in a beautiful and entrancing display, my gorgeous Sasuke broke off our kiss that seemed to be the final thing that pushed him over his edge, as he flung his head back and arched so far back that his shoulder blades and shoulders touched the bar's surface – my named deliciously screamed from his lips as I watched stream after stream of his pearly white essence erupt from his straining, untouched member and onto his sinfully chiseled stomach and chest.

It was too much, far too sexy and alluring for any mere man to behold, and with one last particular sharp thrust inside of my brother's scalding hot body, I came long and hard; already hearing the increased wet sounds that his saturated insides produced as a result of my continued but weakening thrusts while I emptied myself inside his blissfully willing cavern.

Sasuke had initially drew his bottom lip in between his teeth once again from feeling me come inside of him but released it upon being unable to suppress a breathy, heavenly sigh as his deep, black and red eyes sort of rolled in the back of his head as his body shook with each of my subsiding thrusts into him.

Completely sated and more than exhausted, I released Sasuke's tortured hips from my grasp; my hands favoring to just slump by my side; as I effectively dropped my head to my brother's chest and just let him cradle me while I tried to catch my breath.

My bare back and shoulders were damp with sweat, my long bangs sticking to my cheeks and forehead in some places, and my legs felt like watered-down jelly as I peacefully rested against the firm, solid planes of Sasuke chest – my softening member still inside of him since I did not even have the strength or particular desire to detach us straight away.

Sasuke said nothing at first as I heard him only clear his evidently dried throat while he let his fingertips casually, leisurely stroke across the nape of my neck.

My senses progressively returning to me and providing me with long-forgotten, basic information with which to catch up on, I immediately made a rather humorous assessment that I just had to voice as I was still being coddled by my younger brother as I remained bent over him as I was.

"Breakfast was great," I joked with a smile against my brother's flesh, clearly referring to our mind-blowing and rough sex just now and not the food we had prepared that had yet to be eaten.

I felt my brother's fingers halt in their ministrations on the beck of my neck, making me look up and seek out his eyes at once.

Almost on cue, the both of us broke out into a fit of laughter, my brother's trim stomach reverberating underneath me as he chuckled at my joke and me right along with him – our laughs somewhat similar in intonation and pattern as they filled our humble abode.

God, I lived for these moments….just simply lived for them.

He was so impossibly beautiful and wonderful; I was constantly kept in a state of amazement when with him.

"Well, I think our real breakfast is going to have to wait even longer, though," Sasuke commented once his laughter had died down, though he still had his heart-stopping smile on his pale, dampened face.

"And why is that?" I asked, unknowingly playing right along with his intentions.

Suddenly, my brother's warm smile melted easily into a small, playful smirk that made his eyes narrow and glint with an almost wicked gleam in their staggering mismatched hues.

"Because now we both need a shower," he answered coolly, suggestively.

I could only stare transfixed at his smirking face and read into the many, multiple implications that that same look has meant for us in the past.

I gulped.

X

_**Sasuke's POV**_

Thick, warm blankets of white, puffy steam seemed to float all around our quaint, master bathroom located adjacent to the bedroom, tingling my already sensitive senses and skin as I clung sensually to my older brother's larger, smooth form.

Inside our adequately sized, clouded-glass shower, remarkably hot water rained down from overhead onto both of our naked, attached forms as Itachi kept his hands on either side of my face while he proceeded to successfully kiss me senseless – our breath coming out in short puffs as our pink, petal-soft lips sought out the other's in the most delectable of ways over and over again.

I had long since released his long, midnight hair from its braid as it was now strung about wildly down his dripping back and across his shoulders; my own wetted-down locks of blue-black hair were completely free of their usual spikes in the back as it all just hung heavily down because of the constant water.

My own smaller hands grasped at Itachi's wide, strong back as I practically adhered myself to him, forever loving the feeling of his soft, warm tongue inside my mouth and against my own as I let him dominate our heated, passionate kisses while I kept my chest securely against his own.

I loved how Itachi knew exactly how to kiss and touch me, at just the places and at just the right times to make me a mindless mess in his arms…and right now was no different as I had already reached such a state earlier in the kitchen and knew straight away that I wanted another round with my talented, handsome brother – the love of my life.

Somewhat reluctantly breaking off our water-streaked kiss; my lips already missing his as soon as they were parted; I slowly turned around so my back faced him and suggestively placed my opened palms flat against the tiled wall in our shower for support; effectively presenting my ass to him to use however he wished.

It was a demand, not a request, in all actuality and I knew Itachi would pick up on this as well.

Truth be told, I was always to insanely desperate for my older brother – anything; it did not matter what it was; a kiss, lovemaking, a sentence…anything…any kind of contact; it all was enticing and wholly engrossing to me no matter what.

I purred as soon as I felt Itachi strong, deadly hands on my thighs, his warm and deliciously soaked body coming closer to mine as I felt his trained and battle-honed hips brush against my ready flesh.

The steady, soft 'zaa' sound the shower made was infinitely relaxing; the water itself that poured over us was immensely purifying; and my brother's slow, purposefully teasing of making his swollen member grind against my ass was maddeningly sweet in its excruciating torture.

I gingerly bowed my back, though I was not completely bent over by any means, and sort of gave my ass a little wiggle so I could tease Itachi back in the process – our playfulness seemingly never-ending as we constantly desired to please and feel the other.

Preparing me at this point was thoroughly unnecessary and I shamelessly moaned out loud as I felt Itachi easily slip his rigid member into my sopping, stretched entrance and effortlessly sheathe the whole thing inside of me until I felt his sexy, lower abdomen make full contact with the delicate curve of my ass.

"Holy shit… Sasuke," Itachi cooed from behind me, his voice raspy and airy as he said my name and just took a moment to relish in being completely inside of me before moving; his hands lightly resting on the tops of my spread, slick thighs.

My own cock dripped with dire, pulling need at feeling my brother's gorgeous cock fill me up once again and I wantonly bent over even more for him; my resilient hold on the white-tiled wall making me stable in my move and I could feel Itachi's length automatically get pushed deeper inside me as a result.

At this, I moaned again and closed my eyes – my brother's hips pulling away from me as I felt him retract his pleasure-inducing cock out of me almost completely before pushing it back in with virtually no kind of resistance on my part.

It was like silk gliding over satin; us being together and joined like this; and I was easily intoxicated with how utterly heavenly everything felt.

"M-more…Itachi…please," I whined quietly, water dripping off my kiss-swollen lips as I pushed out my ass a little more for him to emphasize my lustful plea.

Obliging in the most mind-shattering of ways, Itachi only hurried his pace a fraction more; his grip on my thighs tightening, however, as if to keep himself in check so he could continue making slow, meaningful love to me and not hurry as I had asked.

I was dying pleasantly from feeling my brother make leisured, measured thrusts into me; my body feeling as if I was coming apart at the seams; as I moaned over and over in my throat and felt my body positively race with growing need and desire – Itachi's unhurried and savoring thrusts were melting my mind and making my whole world collapse slowly as I felt pillow-soft pleasure reach almost everywhere within me.

However, just when I was a second away from making another desperate beg of my older brother, I felt his hands smoothly slide up from my thighs to my stomach where he proceeded in pulling me upright from my bent-over position.

Freeing my hands from the cool wall, I stood up straight and tossed my arms back to latch onto his lengthy, sopping mane behind me while I ground my ass against his groin – his thrusts quickening as result as he kept his hands securely on my soaking chest; holding me closely to him as we continued to make love.

Time after time, I moaned my brother's name as I arched against him; grinding my ass into him every time; while I let my hands sift endlessly through Itachi's unbelievably silken hair; my body heating up in the most satisfying of ways as I felt his large hands firmly hold my chest and his solid member pound into my entrance, expertly hitting my sweet spot.

My vision was beginning to blur around the edges, my peripherals sort of leaving me as if in a drunken haze, as I delivered one particular sharp tug to my brother's long hair- Itachi's mouth securely on my shoulder as he proceeded to bite down on the slender muscles there before sucking and licking at the worried area.

I was gradually losing my mind in the arms of my beloved Itachi as I could not help but writhe around in his hot, alluring embrace as I moaned and gasped for precious air; welcoming my sweet oblivion almost too eagerly; as I felt one of Itachi's hands trail down the front of my slender, smaller body until he reached my weeping member at last.

I gasped sharply and lolled my head back to rest against the top of Itachi's sturdy shoulder as I felt my older brother pump my cock in his hand; his mouth still hungry and tedious against my slick shoulder and neck as he left mark after purple mark on my pallid skin – my overwhelming desire for him only increasing as I felt his lust-inspiring mouth work on me like I was something so unspeakably delicious to him.

With a sort of pleasured groan, Itachi pulled his lips away from my neck and instead gently placed them against my ear, allowing me to closely hear and feel his heavy, lustful breathing as he hurried his thrusts even more inside of me.

I was so unbelievably close; everything this extraordinary man did was like some kind of magic spell that made me see brilliant stars and about lose my right mind; as I felt his other hand free itself from my chest and instead slide into my unruly, wet locks to which he gingerly took hold of the far side of my face; turning my head towards him so he may claim my lips once more.

I moaned into our sideways kiss and tightened my grip in his long, midnight locks as I felt my own straining member swell inside of his hand; Itachi's strokes to my cock were furious and ideal and my pleasure only amplified now that I could taste my brother's hot mouth once more and feel how much he needed me.

Suddenly, like a gripping, unavoidable wave crashing down over me, my eyes flew open as I felt my orgasm positively tear through my every fiber as I kissed him harder, my moans being muffled as Itachi drank in all my shameless, needy sounds – Itachi making sure to keep his lips firmly against my own panting mouth as I came in multiple, glorious spurts of fiery white liquid that coated his pumping hand and splattered onto the watery shower floor below.

All at once, Itachi's parted lips were pulled from my own, his hands still holding onto the side of my neck and jaw and keeping it tilted back, as I felt him finally come as well; his hot, thick essence filling me up to the brim again as he pushed his cock deeper and deeper into me – my opened eyes so close to his face watching as his handsome, wet face first scrunched up in crucial concentration but only to relax all at once as tiny, clear droplets of water spilled from his cheeks and his luscious mouth.

It was beautiful to behold so intimately, and I felt truly privileged.

Panting hard and clearly drained of all types of energy, Itachi eased his flaccid member out of me and took a little, tired step backwards; prompting me to turn around at once so I may face my lover and, ultimately, finish our shower that never truly got started in the first place, aside from just turning on the water.

I could not help but smile at how utterly exhausted and worn out Itachi looked, and said smartly, "Good?"

Itachi nodded at first, the shower water still pouring over us and soaking us fully, but then said, "The best."

He was absolutely too cute sometimes, so I closed the remaining yet small distance between us and threw my arms around his neck, immediately laying my head down on top of his shoulder, and just held him.

Itachi's arms lethargically circled around my waist as he tipped his head over to the side to lovingly rest his temple against my sopping mess of black hair – everything astoundingly peaceful, perfect, and just blissfully serene between us, through us.

I sighed heavily, already feeling rather sleepy from our rounds of intense love-making and now being held in Itachi's equally tired embrace, but I forced my head up so I cold look him in his ominous but intriguing black and white eyes.

"I love you," I said solemnly, meaningfully as my gaze sort of trailed down from his eyes to his supple lips just inches away from my own; forever being in awe of the breathtaking perfection that is Uchiha Itachi.

"I love you too, Sasuke," Itachi replied earnestly, my eyes positively glued to just how his lips formed those words as he said them to me.

I was so happy.

"I guess I should wash your hair for you now," I commented suddenly, realizing that the chore plus some others still needed to get done before we could end our shower and finally eat and go about our day.

At this, my darling older brother cocked his head over to a side, a grin plastered on his lovely face, as he said, "I'm not blind anymore, Sasuke. You don't have to still do that for me."

Sucking in a bit of air through my nose, my answer formulating inside my head as we both maintained our affectionate, loose hold on the other's wet, naked body, I replied thoughtfully, "I told you…I'll always want to take care of you. Don't you trust me?"

It was not accusatory, it was not implied with some underlying, scheming tone – I only meant that I was sure about my decision regarding him and that he should be sure about it as well.

Upon hearing my somewhat emblematic question, Itachi smiled sweetly down at me; instantly melting my heart as well as capturing my full, undivided attention as I could only focus my eyes on how angelic the man absolutely looked to me right now in my arms; before he said, "I've always trusted you, Sasuke."

X

"_I looked into your eyes and saw / A world that does not exist / I looked into your eyes and saw / A world I wish I was in / I'll never find someone quite as touched /As you / I'll never love someone quite the way that I / Love you."_ –VAST

_Author's Note_: Oh jeeze, it's finally over. XD So, what did you think; was it epic awesome or a total pooch-screw? lol. Thanks for all the support and reviews, everyone; I've always appreciated them.


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